One of the most common reasons for health problems that I see in my office is faulty posture. Having poor posture will almost guarantee that you’ll have Chiropractic structural problems. But luckily, if you get proper chiropractic spinal & extremity adjustments and are put on a postural rehabilitation program, postural faults will not plague you.
What constitutes good posture?
If you drop a line down from your head to your feet it should pass directly through the following:
Ear canal
Shoulder joint
Hip joint
Knee joint
Ankle joint
Effects of poor posture
The immediate effect of having poor posture is that you’ll start to develop abnormal pains in your body. These are pains that you have no idea why they’re there. You’ll begin to notice that you’ll have upper neck, back and low back pain. You may even develop foot, knee and hip pain.
How do you correct poor posture?
Step 1: Make sure that you are analyzed by a competent Chiropractic physician (preferably one who focuses on postural alignment and is also very familiar with Applied Kinesiology or Muscle Response Testing. When you call in to an office, ask the receptionist if the doctor uses Applied Kinesiology or Muscle Testing).
Step 2: Remove structural interferences in all affected joints. As Chiropractors, we term these interferences “subluxations.” These subluxations interfere with your joint’s normal motion and restricted motion is the first step toward postural distortions.
Step 3: Focus on retraining the surrounding stabilizing muscles. This is most important to a lasting postural correction. Along with making sure the surrounding muscles are “firing at optimal” your chiropractor should then make sure all the surrounding muscles move together in a synchronous pattern. When the muscles move synchronously you decrease the wear and tear on the joint.
Step 4: Focus on general postural enhancing exercises. There are specific exercises that will help you to regain proper posture. Some include: chin-tuck, abdominal bracing and pelvic rocking.
Dr. Mike Okouchi, born and raised in Hawai`i, graduated from Southern California University of Health Sciences with a Doctorate in Chiropractic. He is also trained as a molecular & cell biologist and integrates that into his practice. His main focus toward health is to remove interferences that impede your body from healing itself. He is a member of the International College of Applied Kinesiology and currently working on membership with The Institute for Functional Medicine. He published his first research paper at age 20 while still in college and was selected as one of the top research students in the Northwest region. Dr. Okouchi integrates many different techniques and modalities such as Applied Kinesiology, Laser Therapy, Electromagnetic & Color therapy, Nutrition, Herbs, Homeopathy, Detoxification programs, Neuro-Emotional Technique and Postural training. Visit Dr. Okouchi's personal website and his health blog at AKDocMike.com.