As summer heats up in Chicago, more Chicagoans are getting outside, playing beach volleyball, running, biking, and playing softball with friends and/or co-workers.

At this stage of the pandemic, companies are now beginning to allow employees to return to work in a mainly hybrid setting (where you work from home a few days per week and work from your office).

The last 18 months have taught us that working from home is quite challenging, and difficult, despite not having to leave your home to commute to and from work. As a result of working from home for long periods, some Chicagoans may not have great WFH (work from home) setups, causing poor posture.

As your posture is quite easy to change, but hard to keep changing, chiropractic care can adjust your posture by providing you the tips to improve it while WFH. These tips will help you sit better and minimizes bad habits as you continue to WFH for the rest of 2021 and into 2022.

Below are four tips on how to improve your posture while you work:

4 Tips to Improve Your Sitting Posture

1. Sit with your feet flat on the ground in a well supported chair with a backing
2. Sit the back of your chair (not at the front)
3. Move your chair forward as close to your laptop/computer screen as possible
4. Ensure you are eye level with the middle part of your screen(s) adjusting your chair/desk height (even if you have a standing desk)

4 Ways a Chiropractor can Improve Your Posture (& Relieve Pain)

Poor posture can lead to neck pain, middle back pain, headaches, lower back pain, and shoulder pain to name a few. A chiropractor can help alleviate this pain and actually improve your posture in these four ways:

1. Create More Flexibility and Mobility

Chiropractic adjustments create more flexibility and mobility within your spine. Adjustments realign your spinal vertebrae that are pulled out of position via tight muscles in and around your spine from sitting or standing for long periods of time. This reduces stiffness and improves movement within an area that is impacted by your posture.

2. Stretch Soft Tissue

Soft tissue stretching can alleviate the tension and improve your range of motion. Muscles, tendons, and ligaments provide support to your bones to help them move. So, releasing the tightness via Active Release Techniques (ART) will improve circulation, reduce muscle tone, and improve movement within the affected area.

ART aims to break scar tissue within the muscles of the neck, shoulders, chest, and upper back to reduce pain and tension that develops from poor posture.

3. Reduce Stress

Stress often builds up at work causing poorer posture that results in your shoulders being raised up toward your ears, your teeth to clench, and your head or neck to move forward.

This causes more strain to the muscles of your neck, upper back, and shoulders. Chiropractic care helps to reduce this stress via soft tissue work and manipulation.

4. Corrective Exercises

Your chiropractor can provide corrective exercises that improve your posture by changing how you move and sit or stand at work or home. This can prevent injuries from recurring.

Corrective exercises should address core and neck flexor activation, thoracic spine (or middle back) mobility exercises, and stretches to minimize discomfort from potentially bad posture.

These provide a brief overview of how chiropractic care can change your posture and help reduce pain. It is important to use these tips to prevent bad habits from forming for many years to come.

If you or someone you know is struggling with back and neck pain due to poor posture, give us a call or learn more about how we can help.

Brian Marion, DC, CCSP, ART, CKTP
Lincoln Park Chiropractic
2202 N. Lincoln Ave Ste 1 Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 248-2790