If you or your kids have poor posture it is imperative you get checked for underlying spine and nervous system problems.

Do you brush your teeth every day? I bet you do. Why is it that when you brush your teeth today (and they are clean) that you need to do the exact same thing tomorrow? The answer is plaque. Plaque will build up on your teeth no matter what you do.

The same is true when it comes to posture. Gravity on your spine is like plaque on your teeth. Gravities effects build up on your spine everyday, without fail, no matter what you do. So how do you combat the effects of gravity on you spine?

The first thing to figure out is how much your spine has already been effected by gravity. From there you can proactively deal with the situation and learn effective methods to help deal with the continued build up of gravitational stress on your spine and nervous system.

“Posture affects and moderates every physiological function. from breathing to spinal pain, headache, mood, blood pressure, pulse and lung capacity are among the functions most easily influenced by posture.”
~Journal of Pain Management~

Poor posture is commonly the result of a slow, progressive build up of stresses causing mis-alignment of your spine. These stresses lead to the body having to compensate. For example, if you twist your right ankle you will compensate by leaning to the left side and put more pressure on your left knee and hip leading to future problems in your knees and hips. Each compensation slowly leads to large changes in overall bony alignment and thus poor posture.

The more the body has to compensate the less room it has to move freely, and over time will likely start to become rigid and stiff in certain areas. This will then lead to the development of aches and pains and may contribute to a host of other health problems.

Some common examples of poor posture are:

•  Head shifting forward over the shoulders
•  Shoulders rolling forward and/or dropping down
•  Upper back rounding forward or becoming humped
•  Developing a flat back or sway back

Everyday activities that can have a negative effect on you posture include:

•  Sitting position
•  Sleeping position
•  Footwear
•  Trauma (sports injuries, car accidents etc)
•  Emotional stress

Poor posture can lead to many associated problems such as:

neck pain, back pain, headaches, jaw pain, shoulder problems, hip and knee pains, degenerative changes to the spine, breathing difficulties, and brain fog or inability to focus clearly among many others.

HOW CAN CHIROPRACTIC HELP?

At Oxenford LIFE Chiropractic we take a holistic approach to helping you. Assessing your entire spine, rather than just looking at your neck in isolation.

We do this through assessing and correcting your posture, balance, alignment and overall spinal health. This takes pressure off the muscles, ligaments, discs, and nerves of the neck and allows the body to heal naturally. Much like putting out the fire instead of turning off the fire alarm.

Correcting your spinal alignment with chiropractic care can help you get relief as well as helping prevent the problem from returning in the future.

By ensuring your spine has great alignment it also takes pressure off your nerve system. Your nerve system is responsible for sending and receiving messages from your brain and body. A clear communication pathway between the brain and body allows your body to heal and function at its very best.

OUR CHIROPRACTIC METHOD

Our chiropractic method focuses on correcting spinal alignment and posture for people of all ages using spinal adjustments, postural exercises, spinal tractioning and ergonomic advice. This gives you control in your own healing process and helps you get better results faster, while preventing the problem from returning again in the future.
Even after the first adjustment, people will often notice improvements in their pain, posture and movement.

POSTURE AND NERVOUS SYSTEM FUNCTION

The nervous system (brain and spinal cord) is our communication pathway throughout our whole body. It helps to regulate and control every action in our body. It is extremely important that our nervous system is working at its optimum if we want to function well and live a healthy life.

Because our spine encloses and protects our nervous system, it can have a direct influence on how well our brain, spinal cord and nerves are functioning.

If the alignment of the bones in our spine start to lose their ideal position or become dysfunctional it can impact the nervous system negatively.

Improving spinal alignment and posture helps your body to function and feel its best while reducing the likelihood of encountering injuries and greater problems in the future.

PREVENTION

At Oxenford LIFE Chiropractic our goal is to fix bodies and help prevent injuries from returning. Ultimately, we want to help your body work better so you can enjoy life uninhibited by pain. Once posture is corrected, it is recommended to keep it in good shape. Similar to continuing brushing your teeth once a cavity has been fixed by the dentist. This is best managed through a maintenance/wellness adjustment and exercise protocol, along with our advice around day to day living.