How does posture affect back pain?

Our posture affects back pain in many ways; from the way we sit to the shoes we wear, we all have unhealthy habits. Watch fitness expert Sue Hitzmann, MS/CST/NMT, discuss how to be more aware of posture, and how to improve it daily to prevent pain.

Transcript

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Another thing to think about with posture is when we sit in that slouched position like most of us do while we're sitting at our desk working

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is that it really causes a lot of unnecessary compression on our diaphragm. [MUSIC PLAYING]

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So posture affects back pain in a lot of ways. We assume a lot of postures in our life. But what science really understands

00:26

is that daily living and the repetitive postures that we take, like sitting in a chair or wearing high heels and walking around

00:33

on cement with those big high heels, can actually impact not only the connective tissue but your bones and your natural alignment.

00:40

So the thing you just want to remember is that if you're wearing high heels when you're at work, take the shoes off when you're at the desk.

00:47

Or if you're sitting at your desk and using your computer and you feel your head carried come forward, I want you to just remember bring your cheekbones back

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over your collarbones and try to bring your chest into a more upright aligned posture. It'll decrease pressure on your low back and definitely preserve your joints for a longer time.

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So just make sure that you think about your posture and bring your body into a more upright aligned position any time you feel yourself slumping over.

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Another thing to think about with posture is when we sit-in that slouched position like most of us do while we're sitting at our desk working

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is that it really causes a lot of unnecessary compression on our diaphragm. And the diaphragm is a really essential muscle

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that brings circulation and blood flow through the body through respiration. So just remember if you're sitting

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at your desk for long periods of time, just every 30 minutes to an hour, get up. Bring your arms up overhead and just take some nice, full breaths in and out

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and feel how your blood flow increases, your heart rate increases, and stimulate that diaphragm so that you improve circulation and you

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don't have to endure the negative effects that are associated with that poor repetitive posture of sitting.