Professional Insights on the Transformative Power of Physical Therapy for Posture Health Improvement in Morningside Heights

Posture is something that almost everyone can improve, but many people don't know how to go about changing their posture permanently. Years or decades of maintaining the same posture day after day can lead the muscles involved in poor posture to strengthen while the ones necessary for healthy posture weaken. 

Physical Therapy Center in Morningside Heights offers expert physical therapy for posture improvement. These professionals share insights into how physical therapy can promote healthy posture long-term. 

What Causes Bad Posture? 

The first step in correcting posture is understanding what causes this issue. 

Posture, whether good or bad, is a habit that develops over time. It often occurs due to the following lifestyle factors:

• Living an inactive lifestyle with little to no physical activity
• Sitting at a computer all day long for work
• Spending long periods lying down or reclining on the couch 
• Slouching frequently

All of these reasons result from a root cause: unknowingly strengthening the muscles that promote poor posture while letting other muscles deteriorate. That's why fixing poor posture isn't as easy as changing lifestyle habits. It involves making improvements at the musculoskeletal level with the help of a physical therapist. 

How Can Physical Therapy in Morningside Heights Help Improve Posture? 

Physical therapy isn't just helpful for posture correction — it's essential. Most people need postural alignment therapy to learn the corrective exercises necessary to strengthen the new groups of muscles involved in good posture. 

Scheduling with Park North Physical Therapy can help improve posture in the following ways.

Strengthen the Correct Muscles

The core muscles need to be strong enough to maintain proper spinal alignment and avoid slouching. Physical therapists can help patients learn which muscles to strengthen as part of their posture health improvement plan, making it easier to maintain the correct posture. 

Many patients know that their posture is bad, but temporarily correcting it only leads to pain and discomfort, as the muscles involved in proper spinal alignment aren't strong enough to hold the position for long. Once the correct muscles become stronger, maintaining proper posture will feel easier. Then, sticking to that posture will only serve to strengthen the muscles further. 

Improve Spinal Strength 

Bad posture tends to put uneven pressure on the spine, leading to back pain, spine curvatures, and other issues. These challenges can make posture improvement difficult, but physical therapists can help patients overcome them. 

Strengthening the spine involves techniques like stretching the back, completing specific spinal alignment exercises, sleeping in the proper position, exercising the core, and more. Physical therapists evaluate patients' spinal strength and then guide them through the proper posture improvement techniques to build up the spine.

Alleviate Pain Caused by Posture 

Poor posture is often a double-edged sword. It can be painful to correct, as patients need to work muscles they aren't used to using. But poor posture in itself can also lead to chronic pain — often outside patients' awareness. 

Physical therapists can help patients make connections between their posture and the types of pain they experience. Then, they can recommend physical therapy practices to alleviate that pain while correcting the posture. 

For example, many patients do well with massages that relieve neck and back pain in conjunction with physical therapy for posture correction. Other physical medicine and rehabilitation exercises can also help relieve pain at the source. 

Help Condition New Posture 

Correcting long-term posture issues requires continual reinforcements of new postural positions. Physical therapists can help patients stay accountable for completing the necessary physical and ergonomic interventions and continually remind them to sit and stand up straight. This accountability is crucial when forming a new habit as challenging as postural correction. 

Frequent check-ins and adjustments to techniques can set patients on the road to success with posture health improvement. 

Learn More About Physical Therapy for Posture Correction in Morningside Heights, NY

Park North Physical Therapy advises readers that correcting posture on their own may not be doable. Instead, readers should consider physical therapy for posture correction to learn the proper exercises and techniques they should be performing to improve their posture. 

Park North Physical Therapy is a physical therapy practice with locations in Morningside Heights and Harlem, NY. For readers looking to correct poor posture, relieve chronic lower back pain, recover from injuries, or find other forms of relief and healing, Park North Physical Therapy can provide innovative and effective therapies. 

Contact Park North Physical Therapy by calling 212-222-6525 or emailing info@parknorthpt.com for more information.