Hey guys, Dr. Lell here – your family Chiropractor serving patients from Sellwood to Oregon City. And today I’m telling you how to quickly check your posture. This is a great thing to do because if you can catch yourself developing bad posture, it is easier to fix than if you waited. Chronic turtle posture is a hard thing to fix – better to catch it early.
What Does Good Posture Look Like?
First, what do we look for in good posture? We check posture from the side and from the front. From the front view, you want to make sure everything on either side is level. The head shouldn’t be slant or turn, the shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles should be the same height from the floor.
When assessing posture from the side, we use a plumb line to see if the following points line up. In good posture, the middle of the ear will be in line with the shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle.
Now there are countless of gadgets and gizmos that assess posture and many chiropractors, PT’s, and athletic trainers will consider posture when evaluating you because of the many harmful effects of bad posture. If you’re wondering what those are, read this.
The Test
This is a quick down and dirty screen for posture. Stand against a wall. Put your feet out about 6 inches from the wall – toes forward. Your butt, shoulder blades, and head should be touching the wall. Now here’s the test – there should be no more than about 2 inches space between the wall and the back of your neck and between the wall and the small of your back.
This ensures that the curves of your spine aren’t curing too much or too little. If the position is painful, all the points can’t touch the wall, or there’s too much space between the back of your neck and the small of your back and the wall, then it’s time to work on your posture. Check out my favorite posture exercises to get started or make an appointment if you think you need additional help.
As always, drop me a line on Facebook if you have any questions or if you’d like to request a specific topic.
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