Posture

1
Posture

• Position of the limbs or the carriage of the body
  as a whole

2
Posture

• Posture is defined as "the position or bearing of
  the body" (Websters Medical Dictionary ) and
  refers to the overall alignment of the various
  body parts to each other when the person is
  standing in a relaxed stance.
• Posture is the result of many underlying
  processes and tensional relationships throughout
  the body.
• As such posture becomes a measure of the overall
  balances in the body and can be used as a tool to
  assess if interventions have resulted in a change
  in overall body balance.

3
Optimal Posture vs. Faulty Posture

• Optimal posture
• State of muscular and skeletal balance that
  protects the supporting structures of the body
  against injury or progressive deformity
• Involves the positioning of the joints to provide
  minimum stress on the joints of the body.
• Faulty Posture
• Increases stress on the joints.

4
Ideal Posture

• The ideal posture is assumed to be when the
  earlobe, tip of the shoulder, hip joint and
  outside bump (malleolus) of the ankle all lined
  up on a plumb line.
• Variations from this ideal give the therapist
  clues as to areas of the body that do not permit
  the full mechanical ability for which they are
  designed.

5
Poor Posture

• One of the first indicators of poor posture is a
  slouching or forward head posture.
• This posture closes down on lymphatic drainage in
  the neck and will cause more strain on the
  posterior neck muscles.
• It also increases the weight bearing on the discs
  and can lead to premature arthritis of the neck.
• There are many causes of this type of posture
  including car accidents, sports injuries, working
  with computers and loss of bone density.

6
Causes of Poor posture

• Structural Causes
• Permanent anatomical deformities not amenable to
  correction by conservative treatments
• Positional Causes
• Poor postural habit--for whatever reason, the
  individual does not maintain a correct posture
• Psychological factors, especially self-esteem.
• Respiratory conditions
• General weakness
• Loss of the ability to perceive the position of
  your body

7
Tests for Postural Faults

• The Mirror Test- (Anterior View)
• Stand facing as full length mirror and check to
  see if
• your shoulders are level
• your head is straight no chin deviation ears
  are level
• the spaces between your arms and sides are
  equally spaced
• your iliac crests and hips are level
• kneecaps face straight ahead
• a 5 foot flare is shown
• arches are not flat
• no evidence of scrunching of the toes

8
Correcting Poor Posture

• There are many therapies or treatments on how to
  treat posture and the alignment of the body
  parts, some of them are
• Alexander Technique
• CranioSacral Therapy
• Physical Therapy
• Tai Chi
• Yoga
• Osteopathy
• Feldenkrais Method
• Chiropractic
• Rolfing
• Somatics
• All of them try to find the way in which good
  posture is achieved with the less effort applied.

9
Orthotics and Posture

• Orthotic devices are employed to correct and
  support posture.
• An orthosis is an external appliance worn to
  restrict or assist motion or to transfer the load
  from one area to another.
• Adjustments allow all joints to function under a
  proportionate weight distribution.