Despite the belief of many people that slouching and similar poor posture habits are pretty harmless, they are, in fact, known to cause several health problems.
For one, improper posture leads to incontinence, heartburn, muscle fatigue, and arthritis. It’s also attributed to varicose veins, mood swings, jaw pain, difficulty breathing, headache, back and shoulder pain, and even intimacy issues.
Such a long list of negative effects should be enough reasons to motivate you from maintaining proper body position. But, just how do you guarantee it at all times?
Here are six simple ways of keeping your proper body posture at any given instance:
Keep your weight in check.
Sure, those extra servings of calory-rich food and sugary snacks are just heavenly, but they’re not exactly healthy when consumed in large quantities. These types of food may taste nice and sweet, however, they can cause you to gain extra pounds over time and even lead to obesity. If you’ve suddenly found yourself shocked upon seeing the number on the weighing scale, then you’ve probably starting to experience lower back pain and spinal discomfort.
As such, you should be proactive and start watching your weight from hereon. By limiting caloric and sugar intake to a minimum, you can avoid packing in too many pounds and avoiding weight-related issues such as improper body posture.
Have your spine checked for problems.
There are times when people totally oblivious to the fact that their posture isn’t looking too good; not until a point when others point it to them. If you don’t want to find yourself in a similar situation, you should undergo a laboratory test to check for potential problems with your spine.
This can be done using MRI scanners, which are machines that perform non-invasive scans of the human body that detects issues not easily visible or totally invisible to the naked eye. If you’re claustrophobic and don’t want to get inside a traditional closed MRI scanner, there are open MRI scanners available that are specifically intended for patients with anxiety issues and space-related fears such as claustrophobia.
With such modern diagnostic equipment, physicians can detect spine problems and accordingly recommend the right remedies. So, be sure to consider undergoing an MRI scan soon.
Refrain from slouching.
As mentioned earlier, slouching is one of the top culprits of poor body posture, which is why you must avoid it at all costs. This negative habit causes strain on the spine, muscles, and joints that keep the backbone in its proper position. Eliminate it soon and you’ll surely see improvements in your posture, so you won’t be an eyesore or experience physical pain and emotional suffering because of it.
Do posture-improving exercises.
There are plenty of exercises that you can form into a simple routine to improve your body posture. You can have sitting and standing exercises that could help avoid stressing your spine and affecting people’s perception of you. This might be a hard pill to swallow, especially if you have certain sitting, standing, and sleeping preferences, but you ought to do such exercises if you want to see your posture improving, no matter how gradual it may be.
Maintain good sitting, standing, and sleeping postures and invest in great quality bedding.
Just like the appropriate exercises, you should likewise see to it that your different postures adhere to the accepted parameters.
When standing, for example, you should always tuck your stomach inwards and your chest outwards. Your hands should be on the sides while the majority of your body weight should fall on your feet’s balls. While sitting, on the other hand, your back should be pointing vertically straight and your two feet lying firmly on the floor. If you’ll sleep, be sure to sleep on your back whenever possible, as it is the sleeping posture that causes the least amount of stress on the spine. If you have sleep apnea, you should sleep on your side or face down to prevent you from snoring.
Finally, be sure to invest in a mattress and pillows that provide excellent support to the neck and spine. They may cost considerably more than the typical bedding, but the benefits they offer are worth every dollar spent.
Lift things properly.
While it is practically impossible not to lift anything, you should make sure that you’re always lifting things without causing undue strain on your spine. You can do this by spreading your feet wide enough to have stable support and weight distribution, plus standing close to the item you’re lifting. You should also bend your knees and lift the item slowly using your knee and hip muscles.
With proper lifting posture, you’ll avoid hurting your spine and affecting your posture, so be sure to always do the same body posture when lifting things. Just follow these simple tips down to the last details and you’ll surely keep your great posture for the longest time possible.
