Suffering from back pain? Improving your posture can help treat it!

back-pain-check-your-posture

Walking your dog. Sitting at your desk typing up reports. Getting in your daily jog. Having good posture can make these activities much more enjoyable, but poor posture can lead to back pain even from these common activities. 

Physical therapists can work with you to treat back pain. One major focus of physical therapy is to teach patients how to practice good posture. Your physical therapist can help you understand the importance of good posture, and they can give you valuable training to help you achieve it, day in and day out. Improving your posture can also benefit people who are specifically looking for back pain treatment. 

How does good posture help treat back pain? 

Your spine is designed to operate in a certain way. When you move, sit and stand in ways that disrupt the correct operation of your spine, you can create problems over time. Practicing good posture can also go a long way toward treating back pain.

Good posture can help patients address back pain because it:

  • Helps them avoid undesirable anatomical changes — The ways that you use your spine can actually cause changes in your anatomy. The stress caused by sitting hunched forward can eventually lead to damage of your spinal discs. It can also affect:
  • Back muscles
  • Facet joints
  • Spinal nerves
  • Blood vessels traveling through the spine 

In many cases, such damage can be minimized if you engage in targeted physical therapy designed to help you learn to sit and stand with better posture.

  • Promotes better circulation — When you maintain proper spinal alignment, your veins are not constricted by the press of your vertebrae. All the components of your spine require good circulation to operate correctly. It’s also important when they need to regenerate from an injury or normal wear and tear.

Your physical therapist can guide you through the different therapeutic exercises that help with posture. In turn, you can get better at keeping the alignment required for optimal circulation.

  • Encourages strength and flexibility — If it has been a while since you have regularly used good posture, chances are trying to maintain good posture for long periods will be difficult. It may take some time in physical therapy to gain the strength and flexibility necessary to keep the ideal posture. 

Fortunately, the work you do with your physical therapist to achieve your goal will lead to greater overall fitness. The stronger and more flexible you get, the less likely you are to suffer from back pain on a regular basis.

Find help correcting your posture in back pain treatment at Whatcom Physical Therapy

Need to address poor posture as part of your back pain treatment? Our Whatcom Physical Therapy team is ready and willing to help you. Our physical therapists offer free screenings that can determine if poor posture is an issue that’s causing your back pain. We can then build you a personalized therapy plan that works to improve your posture and also includes therapy methods like: 

Take the next step to get our help addressing your back pain. Contact our team today for more information about how we can help you or to schedule your initial appointment.