Does Slouching Cause Neck and Shoulder Pain?
Chiropractors the world over will all say the same thing, posture is king to preventing not only neck and shoulder pain, but back pain and a host of other problems too. It may sound obvious because you would certainly think slouching would have a negative affect on your body health, but science backs this up too. Good advice should always be based on science and proper investigation and numerous studies have been done into looking at the effects of poor posture and slouching on the body.
Take a 2015 study where Swedish researchers looked at just this when they compared healthy body posture to slouched body posture.
In this particular study, the study’s aim was to better understand how slouching affects neck and shoulder pain and function in the upper trapezius, lower trapezius, and serratus anterior. In this study, subjects were observed in relation to elevating arms and how it is affected things such as muscle patterns, work, and range of motion amongst other things,
The subjects were all non injured males and performed several arm lifting exercises in both perfect posture positions and slouched positions. The study team measured several aspects including range of arm movement, speed and curvature of the spine along with EMG activity of the aforementioned muscle areas.
Unsurprisingly, the results were significantly better in proper posture postions compared to slouching, but the effects of the slouch were interesting nonetheless. Range of motion was decreased in the slouch position, as was the speed. Most interestingly, the muscles also had to work harder to move the arm, therefore more energy was expended.
So if you slouch a lot, you could expect to see an increase in tiredness due to the fact your body is having to work that much harder and not even get your range of function to full capacity.
Chiropractic care can really help to increase this range of motion and allow you to move a lot better with less effort. Moreover, your chiropractor can also suggest many exercises and provide many tips to improving posture. Improved posture means improved body function and less neck and shoulder pain.
Call Dr David Warwick 360-951-4504 today and schedule an adjustment to help your body move to its full capacity and decrease pain and tiredness levels.
