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Are you Looking for a Solution on how to fix Bad Posture?
Are you look for a natural solution on how to fix bad posture? Have you noticed that your head leans to one side? Or too far forwards? Or that one shoulder is always higher than the other? Is it causing you headaches? Jaw problems? Neck pain? Shoulder pain? Pain down one side of your body? Or is it an issue that you simply want to improve so that you don’t experience problems down the track?
When it comes to how to fix bad posture, the solution is not as simple as waving a magic wand. However - and contrary to the common believe - bad posture is not simply a matter of laziness. There is no shortage of exercises and training devices that help adults and kids sit up straight. In my professional opinion, these exercises are brilliant!
… But why is it that your posture just seems to spring back as soon as you stop doing them?
It could well be that there is an underlying structural issue that is causing your posture to go skew. And then coupled with sitting too much in front of a desk, computer or phone only accelerates the problem. If so, you can do all the exercise in the world, but it won’t fix the underlying issue.
If you are already doing your exercise but still want to know what else you can do about how to fix bad posture, let me explain the role of your upper neck, and how a unique approach to healthcare may be able to help you.
What no one has ever told you about How to Fix Bad Posture
Have you ever thought about what controls your muscles? I mean, how often have you said that you have tight muscles? And how often have you noticed that you need to stretch your neck, your back or your legs to loosen things up? Well, have you ever considered why your muscles are tight in the first place?
Yes, part of the issue with tight muscles and how to fix bad posture involves stretching, exercising, and not sitting too much. However, physical movement is the second part of the solution about how to fix bad posture. The first part of the solution has to do with what controls your muscles in the first place.
It is your central nervous system - your brain and spinal cord - that control the activity of all the muscles in your body.
So if you have chronically tight muscles, it suggests that there is an underlying neurological reason for it.
What is the Role of your Upper Neck in the Cause of Bad Posture?
So what kinds of things might cause your nervous system to activate your muscles, cause them to tighten, and then to affect your posture?
Let’s look at a bit of anatomy involving your neck, head, and brain. The top vertebrae in your neck are called the atlas (C1) and the axis (C2). These bones are designed uniquely in the spine, allowing for your skull to sit like a gyroscope on top of your spine.
The reason this gyroscope movement is so important is that your eyes, your ears, and your brain are designed to work in an upright position. If your head is tilted to one side all the time, that will affect all parts of your brain, potentially leading to pain, neurological, or other health issues anywhere in your body.
So your brain will do whatever it takes to make sure that it stays level.
But what do you suppose would happen if you damage the ability of your neck to balance the head properly? For example, you spend too much time in front of a desk, computer or phone, causing the “text-neck phenomenon” (And by the way, kids are not immune to this problem either!) Of you have a sports fall or injury? Or you are involved in a minor car accident that doesn’t break anything, but does tweak your neck just enough that is causes things to shift? Or you just trip awkwardly over the kerb one way?
Anyone of these injuries that cause minor damage to the structure and alignment of the top vertebrae in your neck. If so, they can affect the way that your C1 and C2 vertebrae are able to balance your head.
And if they are not able to do the work all on their own, your brain will recruit additional muscles in your body to compensate.
- Your neck will lean to one side, and probably forwards too, causing the base of your beck to stick out.
- One-shoulder will lift up higher than the other.
- One hip will lift up higher than the other (creating the illusion of a “pelvis twist” or “high high” or “short leg”).
This mechanism is called the “head righting reflex,” and it is one of the fundamental reasons why so many people’s posture is so bad. The thing about it is that unless the alignment and motion of the affected bones - specifically the C1 and C2 - are properly addressed, you can do all the stretches and other exercises in the world to fix your bad posture, but the underlying issue will still be there, causing everything to spring back as soon as you stop.
Can Upper Cervical Care Help your Bad Posture?
If you are looking for a natural solution for how to fix bad posture, it is essential that the top bones in your neck are properly aligned. In my opinion, the expression is certainly true that “As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.”
Many underlying posture issues stem from childhood. When we, as adults, reach skeletal maturity around 20-25 years old. It means that there is a certain degree of posture that we may not be able to change. Coupled with the fact that, unless you have a cure for gravity, time, and the physical stresses of daily life, it may be impossible to completely resolve all types of bad posture problems.
It is the reason that I emphasise that it may not be a realistic expectation to make your posture 100% perfect.
That said if is often completely reasonable to expect that things can be improved, stabilised and then maintained for many people.
The way that we provide assistance for people looking to improve their bad posture is by working to restore normal alignment and movement through the top bones in the neck - the atlas (C1) and the axis (C2). The approach we used is an advanced study of chiropractic known as Blair upper cervical specific care.
Many people see the word “chiropractic” and think that this is the same as spinal manipulation of the hips and neck that causes things to twist and crack. It definitely it not!
Blair upper cervical care is a unique approach developed in the USA that is only practised by a very small number of chiropractic doctors in Australia. The approach is precise and gentle, using only the amount of force you would use to feel your pulse.
The procedure involves an assessment first of your posture in order to identify the layer(s) of things going on, and how your body has compensated for past injuries. Next, we perform a neurological assessment to establish a “baseline” reading of how your brain and spine and currently behaving.
Finally, we take a series of customised x-ray images that help us see the exact degree of misalignment in your spine.
Knowing this information allows us to perform the most specific adjustment possible for the greatest possible positive effect for the alignment of your neck, for helping your posture, and for helping improve health and function for your entire body.
Have you Tried Upper Cervical Care to Help to Fix your Bad Posture?
Remember that bad posture is not always a simple matter of laziness. If you have an underlying misalignment in your upper neck especially, it can cause your brain and nervous system to make certain compensations that allow your body to continue to work … but at the expense of your muscles and your posture.
Then, add to it the force of gravity, time, and the stress of the everyday life, that is how you may develop a posture issue. The solution for how to fix bad posture, thus, often involves a two-pronged approach. You are probably well aware of the second step: sit up straighter, stop slouching, and start exercising your weak muscles.
But the first step - correcting the alignment of any underlying physical issues - if you have not properly explored the relationship between your upper neck and your posture, it could be the this is the missing piece to the puzzle that will help you find the natural solution you are looking for.
If you are looking for natural treatment to help fix your bad posture and to find out if Blair upper cervical care is right for you, please contact our practice in North Lakes (north Brisbane) at 07 3188 9329. We will be happy to help you.
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