Keep Your Spine Aligned with Physical TherapyHow is your posture? Do you frequently find yourself hunched over a keyboard, slouched in a couch, or walking with your fists punched into your pockets? These bad posture habits can lead to health problems. So much of our bodies are dependent on the spine! Thankfully, like most bad habits, you can change your bad posture to good posture, and physical therapy can help you do that.

What an aligned spine does for the rest of your body

Your bones and organs rely on an aligned spine to function properly. Your body’s skeleton is a framework, and when that framework is set up properly, everything has room. However, if the skeleton becomes misaligned, this throws the framework off-kilter, which can throw the rest of the system off-kilter, creating problems with breathing, sleeping, digestion, or chronic pain. The list could go on. Poor posture causes problems. Good posture puts the system back into good running order.

How Physical Therapy Helps

Physical therapists use spinal manipulation and other manual therapy techniques to get your spine back where it’s supposed to be. These techniques, combined with exercise, help get your bones moving properly and your muscles functioning correctly. This may also help relieve pain related to the spinal misalignment.

What is Manual Therapy?

As explained in SPINE-health, manual therapy means the practitioners use their hands to put pressure on muscle tissue and manipulate joints. This pressure is an attempt to decrease back pain caused by muscle spasm, muscle tension, and joint dysfunction. The different hand movements can be applied to soft tissues, such as muscles, to ease pain, increase circulation, and relax the muscles. Manipulation can be used on bones to get them where they belong, and also to help fix muscle and tissue problems surrounding the bones. 

If you are experiencing back pain or spine problems, schedule an appointment with us and we’ll find the proper course of action to fix the issue. We look forward to seeing you!