Suffering with Back Pain? Check Your Posture!

In one longitudinal study, back pain accounted for more than 3 percent of all emergency room visits between 2004 and 2008. It is also estimated that more than 25 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, many with a disability that prevents them from doing normal daily tasks like working and caring for themselves or others. From muscle aches to limited mobility, those suffering from back pain will tell you that they will do anything to make it stop. Fortunately, physical therapy may be the answer!! Our innovative care strategies at HealthQuest Physical Therapy will help you find quick relief. Let us help you eliminate your back pain for good today!

What Is Causing My Back Pain?

One of the most common causes of back pain is your posture. Chances are, you just sat up a little straighter after you read that, right? When we talk about posture we often think about how we sit or stand. While sitting or standing still is certainly an important part of it, your posture affects how you walk, run, jump, lift, work, and perform nearly every daily activity in your life. Poor posture causes the loads on your spine to disperse incorrectly, weakening the tissues in your lower back. As a result, the intricate network of muscles, discs, and joints in your back tend to be pushed beyond their tolerable limit, causing pain. As a patient at HealthQuest, we evaluate not only your muscles and joints but also your biomechanics, which is how you move and we target what could be causing your poor posture. Which leads us to the next question…

What Causes Poor Posture?

Many people think poor posture is caused by laziness. We get so wrapped up in thinking about other things that we stop paying attention to how we position our bodies. In reality, poor posture is more of a mechanical and structural problem than a mental one. Sure, we need to be reminded to check our posture periodically throughout the day, but physical weakness is often associated with holding our bodies in ways that cause back pain.  Furthermore, a weak core will contribute heavily to poor posture. 

We know what you’re thinking. “But I work out! I’m not weak!”

Even if you exercise regularly, poor posture is caused by weakness of the stabilizing muscles in your core and stiffness of the spine, not weakness in your arms and legs. Muscles in your abdomen, buttocks, back, shoulders and pelvic floor all contribute to your posture. If one of the links in the postural chain is faulty, your core is weakened and your posture suffers.

How Physical Therapy Can Help Back Pain

You may not immediately think about working with a physical therapist to achieve better posture. You should, though. A physical therapist is a movement expert, one that can identify the missing links in your postural chain and help you strengthen and correct them. They can also help you increase flexibility, mobility, stability, and balance as well as help you relieve your back pain without pain medication.

Initially, your physical therapist will identify problem areas that are causing your back pain through examination and functional testing. They will then create a customized physical therapy plan targeted at improving your posture in all of your daily activities, strengthening core muscles and improve spinal mobility. In the end, physical therapy will help relieve your back pain, improve your posture and help you be stronger in all aspects of your life.

If you are experiencing back pain, your posture may be to blame. Fortunately, our physical therapists are ready to help you move toward a pain-free future. Find out for yourself why physical therapy is one of the most effective ways to address your back pain and start on the road to recovery. Contact HealthQuest Physical Therapy today for your free pain assessment and sit up straight again!

Sources:

Back Pain Statistics 2021 link