Bad posture

Mother nature has not designed our bodies for sitting long hours behind a desk or in front of a computer – nor are we made for standing at a conveyor belt.
Evolution has much rather programmed us for a setting of diverse movement. If this natural stimulus (diverse movement) is missing, we are prone to experience damage to our joints and misalignment.

Two widespread and harmful incorrect postures as an example
A common type of bad posture is the upper- and lower crossed syndrome (Vladimir Janda, 1928-2002). A sitting posture leads to a lack of stretching stimulus (thus tension/tightness) of certain muscle groups and therefore a shortening of these muscle groups. Counteracting muscles are being overly stretched while sitting, which leads to a weakness of these muscles. The result of this imbalance is a bad posture.

 
Generally speaking, it is a matter of time until bad posture leads to pain symptoms. Posture- associated pain can be the origin of chronically strained muscles containing lots of trigger points.

Bad posture can lead to mechanical overstrain also of facet joints (spinal joints) or impingement of nerves/nerve roots.

Exercise

The most common exercise techniques are the following: stretching of muscles, fascia and nerves, joint mobilization as well as neuromuscular stabilization and strengthening of muscles.

Different cultures of all continents have discovered the healing power of exercise like Yoga, Tai-Chi, Qigong, Pilates, Liebscher & Bracht, and different types of physiotherapy.

An important factor of success is finding the right dose of exercise. A common mistake – especially with chronic pain – is that the amount of beneficial exercise is exceeded, and the pain can exacerbate.

This is why implementing exercise as a therapy is not trivial, but can be like a tightrope walk finding the right balance between excess and effectiveness.

Of course, exercise does not provide a cure for all conditions, but a targeted therapy can be very effective, provided it is tailored to the patients’ needs and repeated with diligence and discipline.