Postural Assessment

Why do we do it?Is it all that important?Can it be changed?

Postural Assessments

Injury prevention?Pain reduction?Aesthetics?Performance?

Why do we do it?

The importance of normal upright posture has been proposed since the early 1900s when it was described as a state of balance requiring minimal muscular effort to maintain.

Posture

Points of reference consisting of the lobe of the ear, the seventh cervical vertebra, the acromial process, the greater trochanter, just anterior to midline of the knee, and slightly anterior to the lateral malleolous which form a theoretical line around which the body is balanced in perfect skeletal alignment, yielding equal weight distribution and maximum joint stability .

Ideal posture?

Unbalanced biomechanical joint stresses that result from muscle imbalance may lead to joint damage, setting up a vicious cycle of pain and inflammation. The structural inflammation then affects the neuromuscular system of the joint, creating further dysfunction. Eventually the body adapts the motor program for movement to compensate for the dysfunction

Trending theory

Impaired movement patterns

and postural changes

Faulty motor

program / altered joint forces and

altered propriocepti

on Joint

degeneration and

postural changes

Pain and Inflammatio

n

Muscle imbalanc

e tightness

with weakness

Vicious Cycle

identification

Dominant spinal

erectors

Hip flexors tight

they pull down

Anterior tilt: Lower body cross syndrome A

Dominant and tight external obliques

Tight hamstrings

Posterior Tilt: Lower body cross syndrome B

Misalignments can “impose excessive stress on the spine leading to degeneration/damage or dysfunction and eventually to painful back conditions

In this model, the imbalances and symmetries increase the abnormal mechanical/physical stresses imposed on the musculoskeletal system. This may lead recurrent injury or the development chronic conditions through a gradual process of wear-and-tear

Solid theory?

Postural Structural Biomechanical Model Conclusions

NOT SO FAST!

Is B really caused by AIs pain and dysfunction really caused by ‘poor

posture’

How do these theories hold up?

Impaired movement patterns

and postural changes

Faulty motor

program / altered

joint forces and altered propriocept

ion Joint

degeneration and

postural changes

Pain and Inflammatio

n

Muscle imbalanc

e (tightness/weakne

ss

Lets look at this again

Lumbar lordosis induced by…These muscle impairments lead to increased

lumbar lordosis and might cause chronic low back pain.

Imbalance: tightness with weakness LCS examination

No significant differences in the degree of lumbar lordosis in subjects with and without short hamstrings.

Lumbar lordosis and hamstring length

No significant difference in the degree of lumbar lordosis and in the length of hip flexor muscles.

Hip flexors

No association between the angle of pelvic inclination, the size of the lumbar lordosis and abdominal muscle strength

No association between the length of abdominal muscles and the size of lumbar lordosis.

Abdominal length and strength

Pain changes movement but does posture change movement patterns?

Movement patterns and postural changes

200934,902 Danish twins 20-71 years oldNo meaningful differences in frequency in

LBP between younger and older individuals, although greater joint degeneration changes are expected in older individuals.

Joint degeneration?

In the biomechanical model the musculoskeletal system is seen as a precision engine where every system, organ and cell works in perfect harmony within itself and other body systems.

All joints and body masses are in some anatomically ideal relation with one another.

MECHANICAL MODEL

SOLID THEORY?

Within the biological dimension the structure (spine) is capable of self repair and is able to adapt and change according to needs and demands.

Our structure is within our awareness and highly in tune with our emotions.

Biological model

The spine can undergo profound physical changes that are well tolerated without the development of a symptomatic condition.

Biological reserve

Multivariate analysis show that correcting posture may not be the answer to improving LBP

improvements in posture lead to variable increases in shoulder ROM but intensity of pain is not affected. Subjects respond individually to the effects of posture change.

Injury prevention/pain reduction?

How relevant is postural deviation?

Some support to the belief that reducing the thoracic kyphosis can contribute to improving arm elevation

No studies that have looked at changing kyphosis in people with SIS to determine if it decreases pain.

Kyphosis

Estimated that 90 percent of the population has a leg length inequality with a mean of 5.2mm

Significant if magnitude reaches 20 mm. No correlation to LBPPerthe’s disease

Leg length discrepancy

Aesthetics

Does static posture translate over to dynamic movement?

Posture is structural strength is neuralIncreased ROM with postural corrections

although this is variable

Performance

No significant relationship between lumbar lordosis and isometric strength of the trunk flexors and extensors and hip flexors and extensors.

Abdominal muscle strength not significantly associated with lumbar lordosis.

Weak and lengthened agonist vs strong and tight antagonist proposed cause. So what would one do?

Strengthening and stretching exercises have been prescribed according to deviation.

Strengthening = shortening? Stretching = lengthening?

Can it be changed?

Does an increase in muscular strength allow a better posture to be held? If this were the case it would not be unreasonable to expect that individuals with poor posture had weak muscles; however this is not the general finding.

Strength?

Back muscle length was not significantly associated with lumbar lordosis for men or women.

Weakly associated with abdominal length not strength

Length?

Exercise programs are insufficient in duration and frequency to induce adaptive changes in muscle-tendon length.

“In the context of postural-structural-biomechanical (PSB) factors, it is expected that tremendous forces, well above the daily physical stresses, would be required to reposition/adjust/correct any structural misalignments. These would have to be applied on a daily basis over several months or even years. A termination of treatment is likely to result in rapid reversal of PSB gains, unless the individual is able to self maintain them by specific exercise. The winner in the competition-in-adaptation, is ultimately the one most practiced, that is, the default PSB state/behavior of the individual”

Incidence of pain increased in subjects with more severe postural abnormalities

However, posture is individual: a number of individuals with normal posture were found to have significant pain, whereas some individuals with more severe postural deviations in the TCS region were found to have minimal pain. Causality cannot be determined.

Concessions

Impairs mobility and increases risk of falls and fractures.

a kyphosis angle greater than 40 degrees is defined as hyperkyphosis.

Women with hyperkyphotic posture demonstrate difficulty rising from a chair repeatedly without using their arms.

Age related hyperkyphosis

Hyperkyphotic posture has been associated with increased mortality, with higher mortality rates associated with the severity of kyphosis.

Reduced vital capacity is associated with hyperkyphosis, and severe hyperkyphosis is predictive of pulmonary death among community dwelling women.

Women in the highest quartile of kyphosis were more likely to die of pulmonary death compared with those in the lower quartiles of kyphosis.

Is it relevant?

http://saveyourself.ca/articles/posture.php#sec_risks2

http://www.bettermovement.org/2010/back-pain-myths-posture-core-strength-bulging-discs/

http://bloodandiron315.com/2013/11/05/the-hips-dont-lie-why-your-pelvic-tilt-doesnt-cause-pain/

http://www.bboyscience.com/outdated-pain-theories-part-2/

Resources

http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html