Hello to our Excel Family, Stand up straight Shoulders back, chin up We hear these things and fix our posture…for the next 30 seconds until the slouch creeps back in. Bad posture has become the norm. Office jobs and students with long periods of sitting. Heavy labor jobs working bent over and lifting all day. Scrolling through our phones for hours on end. Postural neurology, basically how our posture affects our brains and nervous system, is extremely important. The research is startling, that something as relatively simple as good posture can have a profound effect on our nervous system. Loss of the curve in the neck, cervical hypolordosis, is associated with decreased blood flow to the brain, decreased awareness of our bodies in space, decreased stability, increased dizziness or loss of balance, and loss of motor function. I don’t know about you, but none of that sounds good to me. Cervical hypolordosis is not a condition only found in the aging population. One study found that 73% of children present with moderate to severe forward head posture1. 73%! Children are in the prime of their cognitive development and it is being stunted by poor posture. Our brains are consistently learning and these children are learning poor posture. The Doctors of Excel are going to be going into some of our local schools to conduct scoliosis screenings on the 5th grade classes. This is a crucial period in development, particularly for scoliosis. “Early detection by screening programs that identify adolescents at risk for progression will offer patients and families the opportunity to seek effective, non-operative treatments.” 2 Correct posture keeps our body functioning and moving well, preventing injuries and aiding in other health effects, including digestion and cognition. In our growing technological culture, including hours peering at screens, tapping on cellphones, and sitting in front of TV monitors with game devices in our hands, poor posture is running rampant. This has a detrimental effect on our skeleton and deep inner muscles that support our body and general function. For age groups 0-18, when our bony growth plates are actively solidifying the skeletal structure, it is especially important to maintain proper development. “[Scoliosis] can have a significant impact on the physical and psychological health of affected individuals. Scoliosis may also be the initial presenting sign of underlying conditions, such as heritable collagen diseases, neurologic conditions, or skeletal dysplasia, that may have been undetected until adolescence.” 2 Mobility and upright posture have also been associated with aspects of cognition3. In a time where mental decline as we age is on the rise improved posture might be part of the solution. Patients with chronic low back pain even demonstrated 10-20 times more loss of gray matter in the brain on MRI4. Loss of height as small as .5 cm has been associated with increased mortality5. Chronic pain and poor posture are causing physical changes in our brain structure and even increased mortality. We cannot afford to let poor posture continue. One way to combat poor posture is chiropractic care. At our office we evaluate posture from the outside by looking at your posture, your walk, ranges of motion, and completing a few other tests. We also evaluate posture from the inside by taking a x-ray, this helps us gain a deeper understanding of the underlying structure affecting your posture. Coming in for posture correcting adjustments are extremely beneficial. Another way to help maintain good posture is education on home exercises and lifestyle modifications. It is never too early or too late to get yourself and your loved ones in for an adjustment! Call to schedule today! Dr. Hervat - Chandoliya, Hemendra, Varsha Chorsiya, and Dhananjay Kaushik. "Prevalence and Levels of Forward Head Posture among School Going Children." American Journal of Epidemiology & Public Health 5.1 (2021): 22-25. \
- 1. Hresko, M.T., Talwalker, V., and Schwend, R. (2016). Early detection of idiopathic scoliosis in adolescents. JBJS, 98(16), e67.
- Cohen, Rajal G., et al. "Mobility and upright posture are associated with different aspects of cognition in older adults." Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 8 (2016): 257.
- Apkarian, A. Vania, et al. "Chronic back pain is associated with decreased prefrontal and thalamic gray matter density." Journal of neuroscience 24.46 (2004): 10410-10415.
- Iwasaki, Tsuyoshi, et al. "Association between height loss and mortality in the general population." Scientific Reports 13.1 (2023): 3593.
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