Throughout our years of education in school or growing up at home, we have been told to ‘stand up straight’ or ‘sit up tall’. I’m sure we can all relate to the time where your mother told you off for slumping over or your teacher routinely requesting everyone to sit up tall at assemblies.
This slumping forward posture seems to be what we associate with as ‘incorrect’ posture and the ‘tall and upright’ posture seems to be the accepted ‘correct’ posture. I always hear patients tell me “I know I don’t sit in a good posture’ or “I know my posture is bad”.
BUT, what if I told you that there is no correct posture!?
How do you mean there is no correct posture?
With countless research into this area, there seems to be no accepted way to sit, stand or however we may hold ourselves that is the ‘best’ or most correct way. What we generally encourage is that you find the posture that is the most comfortable for you.
If you have pain associated with your posture in either sitting or standing, then this posture needs to be modified to find one that is comfortable for you. For example, if you find your back gets achy after ten minutes of sitting up straight in your office chair, then perhaps trying a different way such as slumping down and leaning back into the back rest could help.
If you have no pain associated with your posture, then there is no reason to modify it!
I find my posture comfortable, but I still get sore towards the end of the day?
What we commonly see in the clinic with office-workers or those who sit for majority of their day is a presentation of neck and/or lower back pain. This pain people get towards the end of the day or which worsens towards the end of the work week can be due to lack of movement i.e. sitting for too long.
What we know about the human body is that we are designed to move, thanks to our caveman predecessors we are not designed to be sedentary in one position for too long. Therefore, as physiotherapists we generally encourage some form of movement every 30-60 minutes!
Movement every 30-60 minutes can be: getting up to make yourself a cuppa or go to the loo or doing some stretches in between.
If you have any questions about the above, have pain associated with your posture or would like some advice on stretches or things you can do to keep moving then call 9274 1482 or book an appointment online to get an assessment by one of our physios.
Happy moving!!
