Why Poor Posture Causes Upper Back And Neck Pain

Have you noticed back pain or neck pain after sitting for long hours behind your laptop? The reason is poor posture. This blog will explain in detail why poor posture causes upper back, neck pain and muscle tension. Keep reading.

Posture is how your spine aligns with the head, shoulders and hips. A poor posture is where one of the parts (head, shoulders and hips) gets out of alignment, causing significant problems such as back pain, neck pain and muscle tension that would significantly affect your daily tasks.

There is a type of poor posture known as forward head. Forward head forces the head in front of the body’s midline. This type of posture adds excess weight that the muscles of the head and neck need to support.

Poor posture triggers your body to tighten some muscles to create more stability. This strain and tightening of muscles leads to increased muscle tension that triggers back and neck pain.

What Poor Posture Does to Your Body?

Staring at your phone for long periods or carrying heavy bags on your shoulders may seem to be a normal way of life, but in a real sense, you are hurting your body. Poor ergonomics and carrying heavy objects interfere with your spinal alignment and put your musculoskeletal health at risk.

The natural curves of your spine form an S shape when properly aligned, but poor posture, such as forward head and slumped shoulders, changes the shape of your natural curves. Wrong posture, such as slouching, puts excess pressure on the curve, making it change its natural shape.

Slouching forward puts pressure between your shoulder blades and results in flattening of your back muscles. Slouching forward is a poor posture that strains your upper and lower back. The wrong sitting position at work may result in pain in the neck and back.

How Poor Posture Strains Your Spine and Muscles.

Your spine is made up of natural curves that support your body movement and distribution of weight. How you walk and carry heavy items can result in a poor posture that strains your spine and muscles.

The natural curvature of the spine provides balance when you stand upright, absorbs shock when you walk and protects the vertebrae from fractures. The upper curvature is known as lordosis, which comprises cervical and lumbar sections of the spine. The lower curvature comprises the thoracic and sacral sections of the spine.

Your spine is made of 4 natural curves, and each curve has a specific role:

Cervical lordosis enhances the ability of your neck to support the weight of your head and maintain a good range of motion
Lumbar lordosis supports the weight of the torso and vertebrae.
Thoracic kyphosis supports the weight of the upper back and the shoulders.
The sacral part of your spine stabilises your lower back and legs.

This is how a poor posture strains your spine and muscles:

When you carry a heavy backpack, you are likely to hunch forward. Hunching forward makes your muscles work harder to compensate for misalignment. This causes your muscles in the neck, shoulder and lower back to tighten and strain. Hunching forward is a poor posture that causes increased muscle strain.
Poor posture leads to misalignment, which leads to spinal joint stress. If your occupation requires you to carry heavy loads daily, you are at an increased risk of joint inflammation, stiffness and spine-related conditions such as arthritis.
Your sitting position can compress your spinal discs and lead to nerve pressure. Poor sitting position at work or home compresses spinal discs, limiting shock absorption. Compressing your spinal discs can lead to sciatica, chronic pain in the nerves and herniated discs.
Poor posture may affect your nervous system. Your spinal cord contains nerves that send signals between your brain and the other parts of the body. A bad posture compresses and misaligns the spine. Misalignment leads to pinched nerves that may not properly send communication from the brain to the rest of the body. Damaging the nervous system causes symptoms such as numbness, pain and tingling.
Poor posture strains the cervical spine. Slouching adds more pressure to the spine, which causes discomfort to the nerves in your neck. Too much pressure on the spine causes headaches and pain injury in your arms.

3 Hidden Ways Poor Posture Weakens Muscles.

You can compare weak muscles to a car without an engine. A car without an engine cannot work effectively. Below are hidden ways poor posture weakens your muscles.

Overworked Muscles

Poor posture causes your muscles to overwork. You overwork your muscles by slouching while either standing or sitting, or when you spend too much time hunched over your tablet. Overworked muscles tighten, get shorter, and reduce your range of motion.

Underused Core Muscles

Core muscles are the deep muscles in your pelvis, back, and abdomen. Underused core muscles become less efficient, therefore require more energy to move, while the paired muscles in your body get imbalanced.

You know you have underused core muscles if you notice:

Tight and sore muscles.
Inability to balance, coordinate, and move properly.
Fatigue.
Long and weak muscles.
Shorter and tighter muscles (muscles that work harder).

Weak core muscles make it hard for you to lift your arms, therefore disrupting your daily activities.

Muscle Imbalance.

Standing straight doesn’t mean that you have maintained good posture. To maintain a good posture, you need your muscles around your spine to be strong and balanced. Imbalanced muscles impact the posture of your shoulder, neck and head.

Imbalanced muscles lead to a hunched upper back, rounded shoulders or a forward head position.

4 Common Posture Mistakes (and Their Effects).

Forward Head Posture

You may experience a forward head posture when looking down at your phone or tablet, watching long-form videos on YouTube or TikTok. When your head moves forward a single inch, it means that 10 pounds are added to your spine to support.

Forward head posture strains the cervical spine in your neck and results in headaches.

Kyphosis

Kyphosis posture is also known as rounded shoulders. It’s caused by slouching, a bad posture that tightens your chest muscles and weakens the upper back.

Kyphosis adds pressure to your thoracic spine, causing mid-back pain and reducing your range of motion.

Swayback

Swayback or lumbar lordosis is when the spine in your neck or lower back curves forward. The cervical spine and lumbar spine naturally curve forward to maintain good posture and absorb shock.

When the middle and lower part of your spine curves forward more than it should, it forms a lordosis curve. For your cervical spine to be normal, it should form a 40-40-degree curve while the lumbar spine forms a maximum of 6o degrees curve.

People likely to develop lordosis are:

Pregnant women.
People above 50 years
Children with growth spurts.

You know you have lordosis if:

Your neck is stretched forward more than it should, and it may affect your ability to talk and swallow.
Your hips and pelvis are pushed forward than they should.
You stand with your stomach pushed forward.
When you lie on your back, a bigger space than usual is left under your back.
Inability to control your bowels.

Sway back can develop on its own. Seek medical help if you notice any of the above signs.

Flatback

Flatback occurs when your lower back and lumbar region lose their natural curvature and flatten. A flat back causes an imbalance of the spine. You know you have a flat back if:

You are unable to stand straight.
You have bent knees and hips.
Your shoulder and head slouched forward.
Have a reduced natural spine curvature.

You are at a risk of flatback if you have rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and spinal stenosis.

Nerve Pressure and Blood Flow Issues.

Poor posture causes a pinched nerve and distracts the ability of the nerves to send the message from your brain to the rest of the body. A condition that massage therapy can help alleviate by reducing tension and improving alignment.

Misalignment also presses your chest cavity and reduces the capacity of the lungs, limiting the ability of the heart to work well in circulating oxygen in your body. Primarily, a poor posture limits the flow of blood to your lower body, leading to conditions such as varicose veins.

A poor posture tightens your muscles and joints, therefore compressing your arteries. When your arteries are compressed, blood cannot flow properly throughout your body.

Reduced flow of blood in your body causes your heart to work harder, and this may put you at risk of high blood pressure.

Long-Term Damage from Ignoring Posture.

Ignoring posture can lead to long-term damage. Ignoring posture can put you at risk of:

Internal organs compression, which leads to reduced digestive function and lung capacity.
Chronic shoulder, neck, and back pain.
Loss of mobility and height in your future years.
Depression due to appearance and chronic pain.
Degenerative disc disease
Spinal stenosis – narrowing of the spinal canal due to continuous misalignment.

Step-by-Step Fixes (Exercises) for Better Posture.

A better posture can be achieved with the eight exercises and lifestyle habits. Below are exercises for better posture:

Ergonomic Tweaks.

Your workplace ergonomics and posture can improve your health and productivity. Ergonomics involves how you design and organize your workspace for better physical well-being and productivity. White organizing includes factors like the design of the equipment, better office chairs for good posture and a general workplace setup.

Poor ergonomics can lead to slouching, forward head tilt, hunched shoulders and discomfort. Several factors can impact your workstation posture: Screen placement, type of chair and keyboard position.

For a better posture at work, take some breaks and stretch. This reduces the risk of musculoskeletal problems.

Below are a few tips you can implement to improve your posture and ergonomics:

To easily reach your keyboard and mouse, ensure that they are at the same level and your elbow is not far away from your body. This is a good workplace posture that prevents strain and promotes comfort.
Adjustable standing desks help in reducing prolonged sitting posture. With an adjustable desk, you can work while standing or sitting to support better ergonomics.
A chair with proper lumbar support maintains the proper natural curve of your spine. To maintain a good alignment of the spine, your back should be straight with a lumbar support, knees below your hips and feet flat on the floor.
A footrest under your chair reduces too much pressure on your legs, while a wrist rest on the working desk supports your wrist when using a keyboard.
To maintain a neutral body posture, align your shoulders, hips and ears in a straight vertical line to enhance good spine alignment.
Bend with your knees and not your waist to reduce the risk of injury and maintain good posture.
Use anti-glare screens to promote visual comfort and reduce eye strain.
Position your screen at the same level as your eyes to prevent your neck from straining.

Daily Stretches

Stretches loosen tight muscles, prepare your body to get ready for the next task and improve blood circulation.

Below are some examples of stretches you can work on daily:

Child pose

Child pose targets improving the flexibility of your core and lower back muscles. While stretching your arms, you improve the range of motion of your shoulders, elongate and stretch your spine. If you have been slouching for long hours at work, try child’s pose to reduce strain. To perform a child pose, follow the following steps.

Allow your hips to sit on your feet.
Widen your knees in a way that they align with your shoulders.
Move your hands forward and straighten them long enough, leaving your bottoms of your feet facing upwards.
Drop your hips backwards and rest on the heels.
With your forehead resting on the floor, breathe deeply for 10 minutes.

Downward-facing dog

Downward-facing dog is a good stretch that reduces back pain, strengthens and aligns your muscles. This is how to do it:

Lie flat on the floor with your stomach facing the floor.
Press your hands, tuck your toes under your feet and lift your heels.
Bend your knees and lengthen your spine.
Ensure your upper arm aligns with your ears.
Tuck your chain into the chest.
Press your arms firmly on the floor as you lift your heels.
Remain in that position for at least 1 minute.

Strength Exercises

Strengthening exercises help to elongate and strengthen the muscles that help your body maintain a neutral posture. Below are some of the strengthening exercises you can try to strengthen the muscles that affect your posture.

Shoulder blade push

This type of exercise focuses on putting your shoulder back to enhance good posture. This is how you do it:

Lie on your back.
Bend your knees
With your arms on your sides and palms facing down,
Push your shoulders up and down

Back to the wall

Back-to-wall tests whether you have good posture. This is how you do it:

Stand on the wall with your back facing the wall.
Ensure your back, head, shoulders, hips and back of your legs touch the wall.
To maintain a proper position, roll your shoulders, pull your head back and tuck your pelvis.

Back to the wall is not a comfortable exercise, but with time, it helps you get in proper posture.

Habits

Your daily habits determine whether you suffer from neck, back and spine pains in the future. Below are some of the lifestyle habits to consider to maintain good posture:

Change your sitting habits. If you have been leaning on your desk, stretch your back to maintain good posture.
Avoid standing for long hours.
When sitting, cross your legs at the ankle rather than on the knee.
To enhance muscle flexibility, stretch at least 3 times a week.
To strengthen your muscles and tone your body, exercise regularly.
Support your neck using a pillow.
While lifting heavy items, put your back straight and lift with your thigh muscles.
When driving or sitting on regular chairs, use lumbar rolls to support your back.
Equip your office with ergonomic chairs if you have to sit for long hours a day.

When to Get Professional Help

Battling with a stiff neck, sore back, and spine discomfort is not easy, you need to get professional help. The following signs show that you need professional help due to bad posture:

If your back pain doesn’t respond to treatments after two weeks.

Frequent discomfort in your neck, shoulders and back.
Abnormal standing posture.
Curved spine that you can notice.
Uneven shoulders.
Constant fatigue.
Reduced range of motion in your neck and back.
Discomfort that affects your job, sleep and daily activities.

A physiotherapist can help with exercises that strengthen your muscles, while a chiropractor helps with spine alignment.

Can bad posture cause permanent nerve damage?

Bad posture due to sitting, standing, or sleeping can lead to misalignment of the spine. Bad posture impacts your central nervous system. The central nervous system is made up of nerves and cells that transmit information from your brain to the rest of the body. Your central nervous system controls how you move and sense.

Poor posture, such as slouching, affects your muscles. Some of the muscles may get overactive while others may be inactive, affecting how your body functions. The overactive muscles stress the ligaments and joints, leading to pain and discomfort.

Imbalance of the muscles triggers your nervous system to activate other muscles for your body to return to a balanced state. This overworks the muscles and results in fatigue, reduced range of motion and inflammation.

How do you sit properly to avoid upper back pain?

The proper way to sit to avoid back pain is to sit on the sit bones. When you slouch, your shoulders rounded forward and your back gets extended therefore, you end up sitting on your upper buttocks. Sitting on your upper buttocks strains your hamstrings and muscles in your spine.

To reduce back pain from improper sitting posture:

Take a break and move around for a few minutes.
Get a chair that supports the anatomy of your back.
Get a standing or walking desk to allow you to work while changing positions.

Why does my neck hurt after using my phone?

Your neck hurts after using your phone because your head is positioned in a forward-down position, thus adding stress to your neck. When your head is in a down-forward position, your neck moves forward, your shoulders get rounder forward, and this makes your neck and shoulder muscles contract.