Your Posture Might be Making your Fibro Worse…
For those suffering with fibromyalgia, the worst areas are often the back, neck and shoulders. Other flare ups (on legs and arms) often stem from pain starting in the lower or upper back. Of course, we all know that staying balanced and having better posture is key for reducing back pain long term, but it might have particular importance for those suffering with Chronic Pain.
Good posture, without bends and curves in the spine, helps balance our body’s metabolic rates. Our cells exchange quicker when we are standing straight and allowing oxygen to flow freely all throughout our body. The entire rate of cell-activity can increase when we are standing correctly.
Moreover, a study in the medical journal Spine suggests that it is common for those suffering with fibromyalgia to have impaired trunk posture, as opposed to those without. Although more research needs to be conducted, it seems that there may be a link between fibromyalgia and posture.
That said, “have better posture” seems like an almost impossible request for people in constant pain. There’s no overnight fix for this, slowly improving the way we hold ourselves takes time and practise. The first, and easiest, is through simple mindfulness. All this means is noticing your posture throughout the day. Think about how you’re reading this right now – are you slouched over on a chair or leaning to the side. Take a second to adjust your back and lower your shoulders. Do a few deep breaths in this position and then continue on. Even doing this a couple of times a day can gradually improve posture over time.
If you have a couple of minutes of your day it might also be useful to do an exercise known as a ‘posture check’. This is simply standing with the back of your head against a wall, with your shoulder blades and glutes against the wall. Try and measure the space in between your neck and the wall, and your lower back and the wall. These should be the same, and less than two inches. If the gap is larger, try and position yourself back to two inches and hold that posture for a minute or two, breathing mindfully throughout.
There are many more involved exercises you can begin to do to adjust your posture. If you have ever done yoga before, now is the time to bring out the positions you learnt! The most basic poses, such as child’s pose and downward dog are designed to adjust your back and stretch you out. Yoga is a fantastic way to align your posture, but even doing a few of the stretches a day can help. A quick Google search of the best exercises for posture will yield a wealth of results to help you stretch out.
What we aim to do when practising yoga or simply noticing and adjusting our posture, is to form habits. The most important thing is to continue for a prolonged period. Set yourself a 30-day posture challenge, checking your posture and doing an exercise each day. It might only be 10 minutes of your day but can impact your health hugely. For those of us that like to check lists and tick things off a calendar, this is a great way to stay motivated.
A collection of posture therapy specialist in Spain found that through only 5 sessions on manual posture alignment techniques, symptoms of fibromyalgia significantly improved in the patients they saw. Although it might not be practical to go into a specialist (especially at the moment) for manual posture help, improving your posture at home is a great way to start!