How Poor Posture Can Lead to Muscle Strain and Joint Pain

Your body needs to be in balance. This is called a neutral posture. However, your body is made to move, so the real challenge is maintaining neutral posture as you go through your day. 

At Herald Square Chiropractic and Sport, we’re here to help you maintain a neutral posture no matter what you do. That could mean a chiropractic adjustment, treatment of a soft tissue injury, or an ergonomic assessment to help you maintain a balanced posture while working or performing daily tasks. 

Why is posture so important? 

When you veer away from neutral postures, your body’s systems must work harder to support themselves, leading to joint pain. 

When minor posture imbalances become chronic, your central nervous system detects these and makes adjustments to compensate. Your new normal now deviates from a truly neutral posture. 

Some muscles stay contracted without fully relaxing, while their opposing partner muscles remain overstretched and weakened. Over time, an unbalanced posture becomes habitual, and returning to a neutral posture feels unnatural. 

How poor posture can lead to muscle strain and joint pain

Muscle condition is only the beginning of the changes that poor posture creates. Every muscle grouping has a coating of tissue called fascia. Normally, fascia is slippery, allowing muscle groups to slide across each other in contrasting directions without friction. 

Fascia adapts to the changes forced by the stress of an unbalanced posture. Tissue binds, creating pockets of scar tissue called myofascial knots or pressure points. These are often focal points for pain, and you can usually feel these knots through your skin. 

Unbalanced posture also adds strain to joint capsules — the outer layers that contain the tissue of the joint. These structures are rich with collagen, which starts to break down with stretches as low as 5% of normal size and fails when reaching 7%.  

These soft tissue changes also lead to problems with body function outside the musculoskeletal system. For example, if you have chronically unbalanced posture when using a computer or other electronic device, you could develop headaches, eye strain, reduced blood circulation, and even problems with breathing. 

We can help with targeted therapy to reverse the effects of chronically poor posture. Combined with a few small adaptations on your part, you can make balanced posture a habit.

We’re ready to help you rebalance your way into pain-free living. Call our Midtown New York office directly or book your visit online today. We help people live pain-free throughout the entire greater New York City region, and we can help you, too!