Dear Patients and Friends
Posture, both good and bad, absolutely can have an impact on osteoarthritis.
How does bad posture affect osteoarthritis? Chronic bad posture places abnormal chronic stresses on your body. These stresses make it harder for your muscles to take the pressure off your joints-and your joints end up paying the price.
For an easy example, consider your head and neck:
Your head weighs a little more than 10 pounds – or slightly more than a bowling ball. Your neck is supporting your head 24 hours a day with only a brief rest when you lie down at night. Even with perfect posture, this is a lot to ask of your neck Good neck posture mandates that your head rests directly above your neck. Poor neck posture typically consists of carrying your head somewhat forward in relation to your neck. And this positioning has gotten a lot more common in the last few years due to cell phone and computer use. This places an increased stress on your neck. A good analogy is to imagine carrying a bowling ball on your neck: Imagine balancing the ball in line with your neck in good posture is not that difficult. But carrying the bowling ball a few degrees in front of your neck is a lot harder and your neck muscles will get more tired more quickly.
This is exactly what happens with increased stress on your neck from poor posture: The large muscles, and the smaller postural muscles have to work a lot harder! Fatigue due to the forces from your head and neck happens a lot faster and then are translated through the small joints in your neck. This leads to greater wear-and-tear and, long-term, osteoarthritis. If your neck already has osteoarthritis, then the poor posture can worsen the pain.
It is the same with any other joints in your body. Poor posture increases the stresses they face, which increases the chances of them developing osteoarthritis.
If poor posture increases the risk of developing and/or worsening osteoarthritis, can good posture cure osteoarthritis?
Good posture may not cure osteoarthritis, but it will certainly help. Just as poor posture places increased stress on the joints in your body, good posture decreases those stresses. Good anatomic posture allows your muscles to work most effectively to unload your joints, take the pressure off them, and allow them a chance to heal.
Good posture does not happen overnight. If you don’t already have good posture, realize that it takes steady, consistent attention and work. But the work is well worth it. While it may be difficult at first to constantly remind yourself to improve your posture, after a few weeks of working at it you will find that your body simply begins to return to its good posture naturally and without your constant vigilance.
And this is exactly why our Regenerative Care Model at the Center For Health includes your individual Postural Rehabilitation Program by Dr. Osofu, DPT!
In Health,
Dr. Christian Reichardt
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