Is Poor Posture Responsible for Your Back Pain?

Lower back pain is a common ailment, affecting 4 out of 5 adults at some point. While many things can be at the root of your lower back pain, poor posture is a big one.

If you’re a serial sloucher or you’ve always ignored prompts to sit up straight, it could be wearing on your body. Poor posture can put a strain on your neck, shoulders, joints, and, yes – your back. Even if poor posture is only slightly uncomfortable for you, that discomfort is your body’s way of alerting you to the damage that’s being done.

At Sports, Pain and Regenerative Institute located in Fairview and Montclair, New Jersey, Aditya Patel, MD, and the rest of our team understand that poor posture can take a toll on your body and cause back pain. Here’s a closer look at how poor posture affects you and how to correct it.

Poor posture and your back

When you slump over at a desk for long periods of time or if you just regularly find yourself in a hunched position, it puts a lot of strain on the muscles in your neck and back. Unsupported posture causes the weight put on your spine to be unevenly distributed, which leads to unnecessary strain on the tissues in your back. As a result, the network of nerves, muscles, and discs in your back are pushed beyond their limits.

Altogether, all these factors that go into poor posture are going to cause you pain. When you’re in pain and your body is overworked, your immune system tries to fix it through inflammation. This increased inflammation can increase your risk of conditions like arthritis or back injury.

How to work on your posture

There are many things you can do on your own to work on correcting your posture that can simultaneously help relieve some back pain. To keep your spine – and lower back – in good health, try out these posture-correcting tips:

How and when you walk matters

When you’re walking, try to think tall and keep your spine straight while also relaxing your shoulders. You should also make it a point to move around often if you work a desk job. Walking around can help to relieve some pressure and fatigue from your spine and back muscles. 

How you sit matters

How you sit – especially if you work at a desk job – is extremely important. You should always aim to keep your back straight against your chair with your head above your spine and your shoulders relaxed. You should also strive to always look straight ahead at your computer or phone rather than down since this puts a tremendous amount of weight on your neck and spine.

You can also try doing some strengthening exercises that work on your back and core in order to improve your posture.

Next steps

If doing things to improve your posture at home doesn’t seem to be relieving your back pain, come see Dr. Patel and the rest of our team to see if our treatment options for back pain can be of help to you.

To learn more about our services for pain treatment and management, contact our office by giving us a call or you can use our online scheduling tool to book an appointment with us today.