Posture: What is it? Is it hereditary?

San Francisco Chiropractor Comments:

I am often asked if bad posture is hereditary. After-all..often times you can look at 3 generations of family members at the same time and they have similar posture patterns.

Honestly...I don't know. Personally, I think posture is mostly acquired.

What I do know, is we tend to take on the habits...good and bad of our parents.

If posture is acquired, and is the end product of all physical and mental activities and adaptations to life events, up to a particular point in time...it is what we call dynamic...constantly changing in response to what we do.

This is good, because it means we have control over it...which has been my experience.  This also means we can correct it. It's not easy...but it can be done. 

So what is posture?

Posture is the position your spinal bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons are in. Your posture is actually a window to the spine.

If you sit at a desk all day in front of a computer, your skull will slowly gravitate toward the computer screen. Look around the streets of downtown San Francisco. You will notice most office workers have a forward head posture..it's very common...and it can lead to disc degeneration, neck pain, and headaches. The good news is...it's reversible.