It seems everyone is chasing that illusive thing called “good posture”.
A popular approach to achieving it is using a posture brace. It is a simple device that promises immediate results. But the question is - do they work?
Posture braces can have light to heavy support, sit only the shoulders or the shoulders down to the low back. They can cost $20 to over $300. The demand for posture devices continues to rise as sedentary lifestyles and knowledge about how poor posture affects pain becomes more widespread. Posture correctors seems like the perfect solution. Or is it?
The premise of posture correctors is, bringing the shoulders back with a device will correct a rounded or slouched posture. Place a device on the shoulders and it will not allow a slouched body position and voila, instantaneous upright posture. But an important point to keep in mind is that it also functions like a crutch. A posture device does not strengthen the shoulders, it pulls them back creating an artificial upright position. It gives the body a sense of what it might feel like to sit up straight, not what it would really feel like if the body could completely perform this function on its own. It will pull the shoulders back without having to develop muscles to retract the shoulders. It may feel great while it is worn, but it doesn’t function to build strength. What happens when the posture brace isn’t worn? The shoulders will go back to its original slouched position.
If you built the strength to pull the shoulders back without a brace would that work? Not if the rib cage upon which the shoulder blades lie is also collapsed forward. As long as the rib cage is slanted forward the shoulders will follow. An analogy would be a baby on its mother’s back. If the mother bends forward the baby will too.
What causes the rib cage to collapse forward? It is because the pelvis underneath the thoracic spine is not in a neutral position, it is usually too flexed or rounded. The pelvis is the foundation of the spine and must be in a good neutral position in order for the rib cage to be able to stack straight above it like two vertical cylinders. Only then can the shoulder blades naturally find a good natural resting position that can be sustained without undue tension in the body, creating that upright posture we all aim for.
Poor posture with the shoulders rolled forward is the effect of what’s going on lower in the kinetic chain. The foundation of the spine starts at the pelvis. The pelvis needs to be in good position in order for the shoulders to hold an upright neutral position. The order is neutral pelvis established first, next the rib cage vertically lined above it followed by core strengthening to hold it in place. This alignment results in the scapulae naturally finding a good resting position without straining the neck and shoulders.
