Massage therapy and poor posture

I am sure if there is one thing that many physical therapists could agree on, it would be that many of the common ‘issues’ we see are related to posture... The type of posture that you stay in for typically 8 hours per day, followed by a commute home whether this is sitting down on the train, or sat behind the wheel in traffic.

Here is a list of some of the symptoms commonly occurring from prolonged hours in poor posture positions:

- Sore shoulders

- Stiff neck

- Lower back pain

- Headaches

- Poor circulation/ breathing

A quick test you can do is to sit down in your standard sitting position, then stand up keeping your back in that position… if anyone can walk like that for 8 hours per day, and keep a healthy body, it could be a miracle!

Breaking down the sitting posture, the issues that arise are typically because certain muscles become over-worked, they then become fatigued and stop assisting in the posture, which can put more pressure on surrounding structures such as the spine. Whilst other muscles are either inhibited by the position, for example the gluteals, which play a major role in providing movement and stability to the pelvis.

But it’s not all doom and gloom… Massage therapy can help to activate muscles that are not engaging, relax tight muscles to improve posture, encourage muscles which are overworked to relax, and reduce tension and pain.

- Hannah Green