A wide range of causes, including bad posture, contribute to back pain. The way you sit and stand can put stress on particular vertebrae, discs, and nerves, in addition to straining the muscles holding the core of your body in place. Coming in for chiropractic care can help get to the root causes of your back pain, but you'll see the best results for overall wellness if you complete exercises at home as well. These will help you to have better posture on a daily basis, which will likely lead to reduced pain.3 Chiropractor-Recommended Exercises to Improve Your Posture
1. Pectoral Stretching: Hunched shoulders are one of the key signs of bad posture, and you should work on sitting and standing with your shoulders pulled back more. Stretch your pectoral muscles to make it feel more natural to have your shoulders pulled back. Clasp your hands behind your back, keep them straight and lift them away from your body. Hold for about five seconds before releasing. Perform a total of five repetitions.
2. Pelvic Tilts: Aligning your pelvis under your lower back can also improve your posture and reduce the pain that caused you to seek chiropractic care. One way to do this is with pelvic tilts. Lay on the floor with your knees bent and feet planted firmly on the floor. From this position, use your abdominal and gluteal muscles to tilt your pelvis upward. Again, hold for five seconds each time and perform five repetitions.
3. Regular Movement: Especially if you work a desk job, changing your body position on a regular basis helps improve your posture, in addition to contributing to overall wellness. Every 30 minutes, stand up and walk around for about a minute to stretch your back and give you a fresh start when you sit down again.
On a scale of 1-10, how good would you rate your posture?