Poor posture is one of many causes of joint damage. When you have good posture, you sit, stand and walk properly so that your skeleton is properly aligned, your weight is evenly distributed and your body is in balance. When you have bad posture, your bones move out of alignment, shifting the balance of weight and putting unnecessary stress on your joints. Over time, when bad posture results in misalignment of the bones, you may suffer from chronic joint pain and limited range of motion in your shoulders, spine, hips, knees, ankles and feet.
Causes
Anything that causes poor posture will, over time, affect your joints. If other family members have poor posture, you may inherit the tendency to carry your body out of alignment. Fatigue can cause bad posture--as can poor sleeping positions, leading to misalignment of the spine. High-heeled shoes and ill-fitting shoes throw off your body's alignment, ultimately putting pressure on the joints in your spine, legs and feet. When you work on a computer, you have a natural tendency to lean your head forward and hunch your shoulders, causing poor alignment of the joints in your neck and upper torso.
Effects
Damage from poor posture may be to the muscle or cartilage that protects each joint or directly to the joints themselves. If you have bad posture, you probably slouch with your shoulders bent forward when you sit, and lean forward holding your head down and in front of your shoulders when you walk. Over time, this positioning your head and upper torso can result in undue pressure on the neck and shoulder joints. Pressure on the neck and shoulder joints may cause headaches as well as joint pain. Undue stress and tension on your joints from poor posture can also cause excess wear and tear on joints that may lead to arthritis, chronic back pain and fatigue later in life.
Management
To protect joints from stress, pain and possible deformity, your body must be balanced by good posture. Performing posture-strengthening exercises and practicing good posture to realign the skeleton can correct bad posture and take the pressure off your joints. An image you can hold in your head to help you stay aware of your posture when you sit and walk is this: Imagine there is a thread pulling you up from the top of your head, like a marionette puppet. When the string is lax, you fall into misalignment. When the string is pulled taut, your head is held high and straight and every bone in your body is aligned--from your head down through your back and legs to your toes.
Time Frame
When you are young and your joints are strong, poor posture usually doesn't cause pain or limit mobility. As you get older, however, if poor posture goes uncorrected, you begin to feel the effects on your joints. It will become more difficult to sit for long periods or to stand up from a sitting position. You may gradually lose some of the flexibility in your joints and start to feel pain in your joints. The effects of poor posture continue to worsen with time.
Considerations
Lifestyle habits such as carrying heavy bags home from the supermarket or heavy backpacks to and from school, wearing a heavy purse on one shoulder, hunching over desk work or a steering wheel, or typing on a keyboard, and sleeping on a weak mattress all contribute to poor posture that leads to excess strain on your joints. Correcting these habits so that you sit, stand, walk, lift, carry and sleep properly will go a long way toward improving your posture and protecting your joints.
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