Postural Dysfunction
Postural Dysfunction
What is Postural Dysfunction?
We all have positions we spend a lot of time in. If one of these positions puts your spine and other joints out of their normal balanced alignment, this is a postural dysfunction and your muscles will adapt and become unbalanced, as described above.
What is the end result?
When a muscle imbalance pulls one of your joints out of position, this puts a strain on that joint. When that strain stresses the nerves around the joint, you feel pain. If your body readjusts itself to ease the pain, other sets of muscles can become imbalanced and the cycle can continue. A small, local problem in some muscles can become a neuro-muscular-skeletal problem that affects distant parts of your body.
Postural problems can manifest in a wide range of different ways such as:
Lower Back Pain
Facet joint and ligament strain
Slipped discs
Shoulder Impingement and Rotator Cuff tendonitis
Headaches and Neck Pain
Trapped Nerves
Sports Injuries
Hamstring tears
Anterior knee pain
What can be done about it?
Once properly assessed, muscle imbalances and postural dysfunctions are fairly easy to correct. Generally we focus on three main areas:
Mobilising joints and releasing short, tight muscles and soft tissues
Strengthening the longer, weaker muscles to correct the body’s alignment and movement control
Identifying and changing the lifestyle and working factors that are contributing to the underlying