By Dermot Connole Jinks, D.C.

Remember Mom saying “Sit up straight”? It’s so commonly used it must be part of  ‘Basic Mom Manual 101’. But the concept – good posture -  is common sense for anyone over the age of 18. But what is posture?

Dictionary.com gives the following definition - pos•ture: [pos-cher] –noun
1. the relative disposition of the parts of something.
2. the position of the limbs or the carriage of the body as a whole

So posture is how different parts of the body relate to one another – resulting in good posture or bad posture. But why is this so important -  especially,  in children.

Good Posture Prevents Arthritis

Good posture allows proper mechanics of the joints of the body. A misaligned joint will not work properly. Over time, this will lead to breakdown of the joint. This process of breakdown results in arthritis or osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis with over 20 millions Americans being affected... and the number is growing. Common signs of osteoarthritis are thinning of the cushions in a joint (cartilage), bone spurs and restriction of joint motion.

The more out of alignment a joint is - the more problems that joint will have. The amount of misalignment correlates with the onset & amount of arthritis/joint breakdown. Important: Osteoarthritis is caused by joint misalignment and problems with movement. Only after this occurs can it develop - arthritis is not a normal occurrence with age. However, once the joint is misaligned THEN time becomes a factor. The longer a joint works improperly the greater the incidence of breakdown/arthritis.

Other Benefits of Good Posture

Healthy posture promotes:

• •    healthy blood flow - venous return of blood (how the blood gets back to the heart) depends on the body movement – if you have poor posture – you can not move through a full range of motion and blood flow is affected.
• •    muscles ability to contract and RELAX (ever think poor posture caused those tight muscles in the shoulder/neck, mid back or lower back?… think about it)
• •    healthy nerve function (did you know that 90% of nerve and brain activity is spent on adapting to your environment... joints are constantly 'feeding' the brain neurologic information to help in this effort)
• •    proper development of muscles, bones and nerves in children –which is why Mom was so concerned about the way you sat and stood.
• •    Other systems of the body that are influenced by posture include:
• o    Balance and coordination are influenced by nerves found in joints – poor movement in a joint from poor posture = poor nerve information to brain.
• o    Cardiovascular (Rene Cailliet, M.D. the Director of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Southern California, concluded that forward head posture can add up to thirty (30) pounds of abnormal leverage on the spine, reduce lung capacity by as much as 30%, which can lead to heart and blood vascular disease. He determined a relationship between forward head posture and the digestive system as well as endorphin production affecting pain and the experience of pain.)
• o    Bone Density (poor posture accelerates damage to bones and increases & accelerates development of osteoporosis)
• o    Even Life expectancy (Hyperkyphotic Posture Predicts Mortality in Older Community-Dwelling Men and Women: A Prospective Study.  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 52(10):1662-1667, October 2004.

Good Posture

So as we come into the warmer months and wear fewer clothes, pay attention to your and your family’s posture. A good posture will make you look tall, confident and proud – attractive characteristics for both sexes.  Correct body posture is having head, shoulders, chest, hips/pelvis centered and level. From the side the head should be over the shoulders and the pelvis/hips should not be forward of the knees. As a chiropractor these are fundamental tools used to identify the cause of problems in the body and then fix them.

It never ceases to amaze me how concerned we can be with the proper alignment our car and teeth, yet miss the importance of alignment/posture and our health. After all, isn’t the most important ‘machine’ God gave us our body?

For more information on good health visit our website www.aacfamilywellness.com
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Be Well!





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