CentraState’s Posture for Life Program is an innovative series of customized exercises that improves your posture and well-being by decompressing the spine, activating the core muscles, and restoring alignment. Maintaining good posture contributes to your overall health and keeps your frame aligned properly; it sustains your quality of life and independence and improves your well-being by reducing tension in your muscles and ligaments. The clinicians at CentraState’s Posture for Life Program can help you live your life to the fullest and enjoy daily activities pain-free.
BENEFITS OF GOOD POSTURE
Proper posture contributes to your overall health and can help:
- Prevent or reverse kyphosis (the rounding of the upper back)
- Relieve back/neck pain and stiffness
- Prevent bone loss
- Improve balance and reduce falls and fractures
- Reduce the risk of compression fractures
- Boost your confidence and outlook
- Make you appear taller
CONSEQUENCES OF POOR POSTURE
Poor posture puts you outside your base of support and accumulates added stress on your body. Symptoms of poor posture include:
- Muscle imbalance, increasing your risk of falling
- Decreased flexibility
- Neck/shoulder strain
- Back pain
- Joint damage
- Muscle inflammation
- Chronic pain
- Arthritis
- Impairing digestion of food
- Impaired breathing
HOW THE POSTURE FOR LIFE PROGRAM WORKS
At CentraState’s Posture for Life Program, a specially trained physical therapist conducts a full evaluation and assessment and develops specific exercises targeting areas of concern. The customized exercises use specific movements aimed to strengthen muscle for optimal postural alignment. Poor posture is not an inevitable part of aging and it’s never too late to improve your posture!
Patients begin the program with non-weight-bearing exercises to strengthen core muscles supporting proper posture. Gradually, patients move on to weight-bearing exercises to strengthen bones. The customized programs target spinal muscles to improve movement and gradually add functional exercises, back stretches, and resistance training using elastic bands. Patients are given a series of customized exercises to perform at home for five to 15 minutes, a few times a day. The safe, effective exercises are designed to improve your posture and help you sustain it for a lifetime allowing you to reap the body and mind benefits of good posture. Most patients see improvement almost immediately.
