Your mom always told you to stand up straight. Though you'll never catch a cold from chilly weather alone and eating everything on your plate wasn't always the best advice, in this case, your mom (or grandma, first grade teacher or chiropractor) knew what she was talking about.
Studies have shown that bad posture is the number one cause of back pain. In the short term, it can cause headaches, muscle strain and tension. In the long term, the added stress may lead to structural changes in the spine, issues with digestion, respiratory problems and muscle damage.
Not to offend, but your big head has a lot to do with it. Studies have shown that if your noggin moves past its ideal upright position, it increases the amount of strain on your body tenfold. Let's say your head is two inches forward from it's natural position and your melon weighs 10 pounds. In this case, your head is exerting 20 pounds of pressure on your supporting tissue. At three inches, it would be 30 pounds.
According to noted chiropractors David Seaman and Steve Troyanovich, forward head posture is dangerous—bone and soft tissue can suffer from this sort of slouching.
Fortunately, fixing bad posture is not all that difficult. Jeanne Markusic, a physical therapist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, wrote that the basis for good posture is to maintain a neutral spine.\
""A neutral spine retains three natural curves: a small hollow at the base of the neck, a small roundness at the middle back, and a small hollow in the low back,"" Markusic wrote at SpineUniverse.com. ""A neutral spine is neither rounded forward nor arched back too much.""
According to Markusic, proper standing alignment is easy to maintain. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and keep your legs straight without locking your knees. Maintain a small hollow in your lower back and lift your breastbone, which will move your shoulder blades back into proper position. Finally, keep your chin level so the upper part of the back of your head should be the highest point of your body.
With the hundreds of hours students spend hunched over their computers every semester, there are plenty of opportunities to strain your back while seated. But if you keep your chin level and breastbone up and arch your back slightly while your feet rest on the floor and your knees and hips bend at approximately 90 degrees, you'll minimize the amount of stress placed on your spine.
Exercise can put you on the road toward a healthy back, as well. Crunches, back extensions and those big blue exercise balls can help. Because abdominal and back muscles support and stabilize your spine and assist in maintaining good posture, working on these ""core"" muscles will keep the slouch at bay.
A few million years ago, our ancestors evolved into bipedal, upright walkers. You spent a large chunk of your first few years on earth overcoming gravity while trying to master the art of standing. It's about time we all reclaim our good posture, start supporting our lumbar and stand tall.
Adam Dylewski is a junior majoring in genetics and life sciences communication. With a massive head weighing in at 37 pounds, he can't afford to have bad posture. Letters? Send them to adylewski@wisc.edu.
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