"My Posture is so bad. How can I fix it?"
Updated: Sep 14
by Kayla Long, D.C.
For generations, we’ve been told, “Stand up straight!” “Stop slouching!” “Posture is everything.” In my world of chiropractic care, I remember being taught the importance of analyzing a person’s posture to determine where they might need to be adjusted. “Tech neck” and “anterior pelvic tilt” are popular buzzwords in every chiropractic seminar, and “free posture exams” are a popular way to market a chiropractic clinic at a Farmer’s market. Since graduating chiropractic school, my outlook on posture has changed dramatically, thanks to the advances in pain science, research on the subject, and my own clinical experience.
A popular narrative is the idea that correct upright posture, especially at a desk job, prevents the classic “wear and tear” of the spine and keeps away back pain. Unfortunately (or fortunately), this may not be true. The current standards for “correct posture” were developed in the early 19th century and may not even reflect correct anatomy according to this 2024 research article:
The Standard Posture is a Myth: A Scoping Review
Another article published in 2020, a systemic review of systemic reviews, shows that no research studies have been able to link posture to lower back pain:
No consensus on causality of spine postures or physical exposure and low back pain: A systematic review of systematic reviews
What do these articles tell us? We don’t actually know that “bad” posture causes back pain, and we don’t even know that our definition of “bad posture” is even bad at all. The human body is not uniform, and posture isn’t either. For many people, the standard posture is actually more painful for them due to the shape of their body. Hypermobility, previous injuries, degeneration, and naturally occurring differences in bone shape can all make your most “optimal” posture look very different than the standard.
You may be reading this and thinking “But sitting at my desk all day does cause me pain!” And I absolutely believe you. Sitting at a desk absolutely causes a lot of pain for a lot of people, but is it because of the sitting posture itself? Probably not. Sitting at the perfect standard posture for 8 hours is still sitting for 8 hours, and would likely still cause as much, if not more, discomfort. The answer, in my clinical experience, is MOVEMENT, not posture adjustments. I love the saying, “Your best posture is your next posture” which perfectly encapsulates my point: It’s not about sitting correctly, it’s about sitting comfortably. Changing your sitting position throughout the day, getting up and moving every hour, and even crossing and uncrossing your legs does more for your body than the perfect posture ever could.
With all that being said, if you still want to change your natural posture, there are things we can work on in my office that may help.
Get Adjusted
A chiropractic adjustment is, to be simplistic, finding a joint that isn’t moving as well as the ones around it and making it move. Restricted movement in your upper back, ribcage, or neck might make it uncomfortable to retract your shoulders. They might feel stuck, achy, or even produce sharp pain that keeps your whole upper body rolled forward. Fixing that restriction is the quickest way to make movement more comfortable so that you can work on posture without fighting pain.
Loosen the Tight Spots
Before you can naturally hold your body in a more upright posture, you need to loosen up. If, in the most common example, you’re hoping to bring your shoulders backwards instead of rolling them forward, you might find that the front of your neck, your anterior shoulders, and your chest muscles are really tight from holding that forward posture for so long. Using stretching and soft tissue work we can make it easier for you to move into the posture you’re striving for.
Strengthen the Weak Spots
The last step is strengthening the muscles that will help you hold your desired posture. In the case of rolled shoulders, we would then strengthen the rhomboids, lats, and posterior shoulder muscles that, when they get stronger, will help you to naturally hold your body differently.
If you’re feeling like your posture isn’t what you want it to be, schedule an appointment to talk about it. Not because posture is everything, or because you need to be fixed, but because it’s a goal you have for yourself. I’d love to help.
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