Does Posture Matter For Pain? What The Science Says About Posture And Pain
What does science say about posture and pain?
No association between leg length inequality and back pain.
No significant difference in lumbar lordosis or leg length inequality between three groups of 321 males with severe back pain, moderate pain, or no pain.
No association between measurements of neck curvature and neck pain.
No significant difference in lumbar lordosis, pelvic tilt, leg length discrepancy, and the length of abdominal, hamstring, and iliopsoas muscles in 600 people with and without back pain.
Teenagers with postural asymmetry, excessive thoracic kyphosis, and/or lumbar lordosis were no more likely to develop back pain in adulthood than peers with “better” posture.
Pregnant women with greater increases in the low back curve during pregnancy were no more likely to develop back pain.
People who work occupations involving frequent awkward postures do not have higher levels of back pain.
It is very likely that changing/improving posture will not improve your pain. Remember our previous articles and what the science says about even defining posture in the first place.
Pain is a complex mixture of biology, psychology, and sociology. When searching for a postural fix to explain your pain, you are only searching for biology. That would be fine and warranted, but unfortunately, even the biological science on posture is lacking evidence for effective improvements in pain. Posture is hard to define and measure, it is hard to link to pain, and interventions “correcting” posture do not work.
It’d be very wise to consult a professional well versed in the bio-psycho-social model of pain to help you with your issue. It’d also be wise to stay very far away from anyone who sells these services to you. When it comes to helping your pain, make sure you work with someone who knows the evidence.
