Poor posture can easily cause or aggravate episodes of back pain and over time damage spinal structures. It also can indicate there is a problem with a person’s spine and nervous system.

One of the first indicators of poor posture is a slouching or forward head posture. This posture closes down on lymphatic drainage in the neck and will cause more strain on the posterior neck muscles. It also increases the weight bearing on the discs and can lead to premature arthritis of the neck. There are many causes of this type of posture including car accidents, sports injuries, working with computers and loss of bone density.

Another common posture problem is a forward tilt of the pelvis causing anterior weight bearing, an increase in the lumbar lordosis (curvature) and associated muscle weakness. This can lead to chronic lower back pain, muscle pain, sciatica, leg weakness, lower extremity circulation problems and much more. The abnormal spinal weight bearing associated with this type of posture can lead to premature spinal arthritis of the joints and discs.