Problems With Back Posture

Poor posture is one of the main cause for joint pain, muscle spasms and work-related injuries. Anthony Carey, owner of Function First in San Diego, states that misalignment of the pelvis can lead to poor posture in your spine, legs and shoulders. By performing corrective exercises daily that improve your alignment, you can alleviate acute and chronic pain without having to take medications.

Back and Hip Pain

• From the side, your spine has normal curves that act as a spring to absorb pressure and shock. Looking from behind, your spine should appear to be a straight line from the base of your neck down to your sacrum. According to Carey, if your pelvis shifts out of alignment, whether it tilts to the front or to the back too much, then your spine must shift out of its alignment to maintain your center of gravity. Any misalignment will cause pain, stiffness and weakness in certain parts of your body.

  For example, if your pelvis is tilted back, it causes your buttocks to tuck beneath your torso. Your upper body tilts back slightly, and your upper spine and shoulders round forward to maintain your center of gravity. This posture causes excessive stress in your upper and lower back, stiff hips and neck pain.

Weak Core

• Physical therapist Gray Cook, author of "Movement," describes your core as the source of your strength and balance. It consists of muscles and connective tissues from below your chest and down to parts of your upper thighs. Poor posture weakens your core, which causes other muscles near the core to do its job.

  If your deep abdominal and hip muscles are weak, your hamstrings and external hip rotators have to compensate during movement, such as hip extension during a walk or a run. This causes your hamstrings and hip rotators to be overworked and fatigue easily. This causes muscle pain and possible tearing of the muscle fibers. Also, a weak core requires to you use more energy to move, which quickly drains your endurance.

Arthritis

• Poor back posture places excessive stress on your spine that eventually contributes to arthritis, a condition where there is inflammation in your joints because of excess wear and tear or disease. One posture deviation, called elevation, is where one side of your pelvis tilts higher than the other side. This causes your shoulder on same or opposite side to elevate, causing one side of your shoulder, spine, hip, or knee joint to have more pressure than the other side. If you do not take steps to address the problem, one side of your body will develop arthritis or other joint disorder sooner than the other side. This is why many people have knee or shoulder surgeries on one joint rather than on both sides.