Posture is, quite possibly, the single most overlooked method for influencing health on a daily basis

It is something that we are performing all the time, whether we like it or not. That means that if you ignore posture, and let your body slip into poor postural habits, your body will suffer. Your muscles will train themselves into positions that support poor posture, and subsequently pull your spine out of alignment. Ignoring posture therefore propels you along the road toward back pain and vertebral degeneration. Let’s perform a simple test to determine whether you rest with good posture. 

The wall test helps you perform a spot-check of your posture

Stand against a wall in what you assume is perfect posture- standing tall and facing forward. If the back of your head does not touch the wall, this is the first sign of systemic poor posture. The next step is to check your lumbar curve by sliding your hand between the small of your back and the wall. If your hand can’t make any headway, your lordotic curve is too flat; if your entire arm can make it through, your lordotic curve is too pronounced. You should perform this check every so often- if not once a day- to remind your body what it means to be in a low-pressure, neutral alignment. 

The next step is to start retraining your body into healthy postural habits

At our office in Alameda, we believe it is our responsibility to help people regain control over their posture in order to influence their spinal health. The wall test gives us key insights into how you carry yourself throughout the day; a further flexibility assessment, as well as static postural analysis, can help us identify weak points and set a plan to correct them. If you are interested in harnessing the power of posture to influence your spinal health, give our office in Alameda a call to schedule an appointment today.