Previously broken pelvis shifted patients posture and caused long standing pain. Pain was resolved once his posture returned towards centre
There seems to be a bunch of camps on the old social media these days (the in real life) that says your structure is fixed and that posture doesn’t really matter. You are what you are, tough shit, it’s not guna change
Hopefully by now you have seen from a number of my before and afters that that is not the case.
How you spend the majority of your time in a resting posture is a great starting point to start unlocking where and why you have pain.
Ideally we should all stand in a “holy grail” of complete centre. Somewhere in which every thing is perfectly balanced between left and right, front and back and in the round.
Obviously this is the holy grail so we can probably assume it doesn’t actually exist (or it’s put away in some government lock up Indiana Jones style) but that shouldn’t stop us trying to work towards it.
While you’re reading this I just want you to quickly stand up and just push your hips in an excessive manner to the right, as if you are moving the outside of your hip to the outside of your right foot.
Now tell me how that feels in your right hip?? It feels “tight” “stretched” “long” etc etc…imagine if you were just standing like that, but perhaps less extreme, all day everyday…do you think that the nervous system might start to get a bit fed up of those tissues being under so much tension??
All of a sudden, we start getting a signal asking for change….what is that signal?? Most often pain/discomfort
Now this is important, just because you t have said pain/discomfort does not imply any sort of pathology or damage to the area…it’s just your nervous system and body asking/shouting at you to listen and input some change
So how do we know what is good and bad posture?? Well posture can be slightly deceiving, there isn’t really a good or bad place for muscles/joints/tissues to be unless they cannot move out of that place.
Client with back pain for several years, resolved with improved posture once his left knee (previous injury and surgery) was adequately rehabbed.
Gary ward said on my move breathe live podcast, that “one option is no option”. If the body can only move where it is that isn’t an option, it can’t choose, it’s stuck.
This premise goes for all muscle/joints/areas of the body, finding the ability to move in and out of each and every joint in all 3 ranges of motion.
A joints inability to access one side of its range will prevent it from moving back towards its centre and cause us to have our “wonky” posture.
If you have an inability to access one side of a joints range of motion this will affect how much that muscle will be able to load and unload which will affect your ability to perform at the highest level. Whether that in your chosen sport or in walking up and down the stair pain free.
So here is your home work, I want you to go set your camera up or get your loved ones to take some photos of you, from in front/behind and from each side.
Take a few minutes to see if you can notice how one shoulder is perhaps higher or lower than the other, the same with pelvis. Maybe notice how one hand is higher or lower that the other, maybe how that hand is more rotated around the body or even if one arm hangs closer/further from the body.
Try to notice the pelvis the ribs and the skull and if they lean one way or another, if they rotate left or right and also if you have a slouched posture from the side or if you are your head/ribs/pelvis all stack up.
So to answer the opening question. Yes posture does matter. No your structure isn’t fixed or set (unless you have had some kinda fixation surgery) and yes you can indeed change it, you just have to start with awareness and observation.
Professional footballer who had bilateral knee pain until we sorted his posture out and unloaded the front body (sagittal plane)
From there, you can come and see me to begin your journey into greater and deeper understanding and exploration of your body in 3 dimensions focusing on human movement to help you move breathe and live a happier healthier life.