Most of the population suffers from symptoms due to bad posture. When I took at good look I noticed how forward my neck/head posture was. This is normally caused by weak neck muscles, seated job positions, incorrect sleeping posture and extended computer and TV

Over time poor posture creates a big problem affecting you spine, shoulders, hips and knees. It can cause a cascade of structural flaws that leads to back and joint pain, flexibility and muscles is compromised this in turn effect exercise and health and when we cannot this can cause nerve constriction. This is when the spine changes in shape the resulting movements or subluxation can put pressure on the surrounding spinal nerves that connect to the spinal come from all over the body, these pinched nerves can not only cause neck and back pain but may also cause pain in other related areas of the body.

Ways to assess your posture is to

Wear something snug and take two full body photos one from the front and one from behind, relax your muscles and stand as tall as you can, feet hip-width apart then refer to the list below to diagnose your posture problem. Also here at Le Beau we offer this service with our massage therapist Nerea who is also well experienced in this area and can assess for you and put you on the right track.

How to do it yourself

1. Look at your ear, if it is in front of the midpoint of your shoulder your head is too far forward
2. Can you see your shoulder blade? If yes, that means your back is too rounder
3. If your hips tilt forward and you have a belly pouch (even if you don’t have one ounce of fat on your body) and your lower spine is arched significantly this means you have an anterior pelvic tilt.
4. Look at your shoulders, one shouldn’t appear higher than the other
5. Check out your knee caps, do they point inwards causing your knees to touch when your legs are straightened
6. See if you’re duct footed, your toes will point outwards more than 10 degrees

There you have it! Correcting poor posture while you’re young will help prevent further more serve pain in the future, please use

6 Common bad postures

1. Rounded shoulders

Weakness in the middle and lower parts of your trapezius (large muscle that spins your shoulder back and forth)

Exercise : Lie face down on the floor with each arm at an 90 degree angle in the high five position, without changing your elbow angle raise both arms by pulling your shoulders back and squeezing your shoulder blades together, hold for 5 seconds this is one rep do 2 or 3 sets of 12 reps, daily!

2. Forward neck/head

Stiff muscles in the back of your neck

Exercise: moving only your head drop your chin down and in towards your sternum while stretching the back of your neck, hold for a count of 5 does this 10 times a day

3. Anterior pelvic tilt

Tight hip flexors

Exercise: Kneel on your left knee with your right foot on the floor in front of your knee bent, press forward until you feel the strength in your left hip, tighten your butt muscles on the left side until you feel the front of your hip stretching comfortably, reach upward with your left arm and stretch to the right side, hold for a count of 30 second, that’s a repetition do 3 on each side

4. Elevated shoulder

The muscle under your chest (running from your ribs to your shoulder blades) is weak.

Exercise: sit upright in a chain with your hands next to your hips, palms down on the seat, arms straight, without moving your arms push down on the chair until your hips lift up off the seat and your torso rises, hold for 5 seconds that’s a repetition do 2 or 3 sets of 12 reps.

5. Pigeon Toes

Weak glutes (butt muscles)

Exercise: lie on one side with your knees bent 90degrees on your heels together, keeping your hips still raise your top knee upwards, separate your knees like a clamshell, hold for 5 seconds then lower your knee to starting position , that’s 1 rep perform 2 or 3 sets of reps on each side daily.

6. Duck Feet

Your oblique muscles and hip flexors are weak.

Exercise: Get into a push up positions with your feet resting on a stability ball, without rounding your lower back tuck you knees under your torso using your feet to roll the ball towards your body, then back to the starting position, that’s 1 rep do 2 or 3 sets of 6-12 reps daily.