Poor posture is a serious problem that isn't often recognized until it's already done damage. This is because people who have poor posture often don't even realize it until they see themselves hunched over in a mirror or photograph. If you've been told or think that you might have bad posture, you should know that it could be damaging your body even as you're reading this. Here's what you need to know about the danger poor posture can cause to your spine.

What Poor Posture Does

The spine is flexible, but that doesn't mean that it's intended to be dramatically curved. Unfortunately, this is exactly what can happen when you're sitting down and are slumped over during the course of the day. Doing this for long enough can make it so that you don't even realize that you're utilizing poor posture. However, it can also cause significant problems for your spine.

What it Can Cause

Poor posture that impacts your spine can cause serious health risks for your spine in your future. First of all, leaning forward or slouching can cause nerves to become pinched in the spine. This is because the vertebrae aren't held apart the way that they're supposed to and instead are squished together where your spine excessively curves. When this happens, anything and everything that those nerves are connected to can become painful, numb, or have muscle spasms. This is because the body and brain are getting incorrect signals through this pinched nerve.

In addition, poor posture over the long term can potentially cause spine arthritis. This is because parts of the spine are rubbing against each other that shouldn't when you sit or stand in a slouched position. This can wear down valuable cushioning between the vertebrae and results in osteoarthritis later in life. Osteoarthritis creates stiffness and pain, and is generally something that you should try to avoid at all costs.

Getting Help

If you know that you have poor posture but don't know how to stop, it's time to visit a chiropractor. They can help you to become mindful of your posture with a series of exercises and training to help you to understand when you're slouching and how to correct it the right way. (Straightening up too much, or curving the back inwards is bad too!)

The other thing that a chiropractor can do for you is to help mitigate any damage that's already been done to your spine. They can do this by adjusting the individual vertebrae in your spine so that there's a more even level of space between them and they're no longer rubbing against each other. This has to be done in-hand with you consciously fixing your posture or the results won't last, so make sure to keep up your training at home.

Learn more about chiropractic treatment today.