Your Guide to Posture Analysis & Why Its Useful in Orthotics

Posture Analysis can be among the most critical checkup you can receive - though not many take the time to get one done.

Many people don’t even know what a posture analysis is. However, your posture and gait can have incredible impacts on your health. Doctors and specialists have linked poor gait to musculoskeletal conditions such as sciatica and scoliosis.

A posture analysis may help you preemptively detect poor gait biomechanics, letting you resolve your posture problems before they turn into worse consequences.

This article will take an in-depth look at posture analysis, what it entails, and how it can help you find orthotics to resolve your gait issues.

What is Posture Analysis?

Your posture refers to the “carriage of the body as a whole.” The “core” of your posture is your spine and the specific curve that it holds while you are standing still or moving.

“Good Posture” is also known as a “neutral spine” with the vertebrae mostly standing vertically. Your spine does have three natural curves, at your lower back middle back, and neck. Good posture will involve keeping these curves at their natural level without increasing them. With this vertical “natural posture,” the head is above the shoulders and the shoulders over the hips.

Posture Analysis is where a chiropractor looks at your specific posture and analyzes it for any kind of unnatural curving or tilting.

A chiropractor might look at many different parts of your posture. This can include the curvature of your spine, the position of your head, or the placement of your shoulders.

What are the Types of Posture Analysis?

There are many different kinds of Posture Analysis. In many cases, these classifications may overlap. Together, different types of posture analysis can give a chiropractor or physical therapist a better idea of the problem points with your posture.

Like the name suggests, a standing posture analysis involves the patient taking up a regular standing position. We can compare this to a sitting posture analysis, which looks at how the patient’s back and shoulders align while sitting down.

A standing posture analysis, or “static posture analysis,” is also different from a “dynamic posture analysis.” This analysis is done when someone is in motion, generally walking, jogging, or running. By doing this analysis while the person is moving, we can see how well their posture is maintained.

There is also a difference between physical posture analysis and digital posture analysis. Many physical therapists can recognize major issues with posture by looking at how a patient stands or moves.

However, an increasing number of programs and apps allow for digital posture analysis, where computers or new digital technology aid the practitioner to identify even minor issues with posture and gait. This new digital posture analysis is among the most potent tools a chiropractor can use in identifying posture issues.

What Conditions Posture Analysis Can Uncover

All parts of your body - bones and muscles - are interconnected. One specific imbalance can lead to stress placed on another part of the body. That stress can lead to pain, foot pain and even damage.

Posture Analysis can preemptively detect these stress points in your body before you even feel any kind of pain or discomfort. It can also help determine what part of your posture is causing a specific type of active pain.

Some of the conditions that a posture analysis might be able to prevent or reduce include:

• Arthritis: Stress on your joints can cause damage to the cartilage that provides cushioning between your bones. Enough stress due to bad posture can even manifest as arthritis - poor posture can impact arthritis of the knees.

• Upper Back Pain: Poor posture can cause excess strain on the neck, creating neck pain and upper back muscles as the head moves out of position. This pain can spread into the shoulders and even cause migraines and headaches.

• Lower Back Pain: Bad posture can lead to your lumbar muscles tightening and contracting too much, leading to severe pain in the lower back. This pain can even become crippling, preventing proper walking and movement.

• Breathing Difficulties: If your spine is not in the correct posture position, it can make it difficult for your lungs to expand in the way that they need to. This difficulty breathing can also lead to chronic fatigue.

How Posture Analysis Helps with Foot Orthotics

Digital posture assessments can help identify even minute issues with posture, but it is still only identifying the problem.

Posture is something that can become very ingrained in us - you can’t just “change your posture at the drop of a hat.”

How to resolve issues with poor postures depends on the underlying causes of poor posture. If someone has developed a slouch due to sitting down all day at work, they may wish to invest in a more comfortable chair or more regular exercises.

For many people, their poor posture stems from their feet. Custom-made orthotics can help provide fixes for a variety of issues that can cause posture problems. These can include:

• Fixing Pronation: The term “pronation” refers to when your foot turns too much inwards during movement. This awkward gait can lead to poor posture, but we can easily solve this through orthotics and gait analysis to find the right orthotics for you.

• Improve Balance: Balance issues can cause you to move out of the idea, straight postures, and begin to suffer posture-related health issues. Custom-made orthotics can help provide more cushioning and better overall balance.
• Improve Weight Distribution: Sometimes, the body has difficulty distributing weight correctly: this can lead to a cascading effect where poor posture develops, which then only creates more lousy posture. We can use custom-made orthotics to help with proper weight distribution.

Find Great Orthotics to Improve Your Posture

Whether you need to shop orthotics to improve your gait or get advice on custom-made orthotics, we have the products you need.

From high-quality running shoes with slip-resistant or rubber soles, as an example, we carry a great selection of brand names to keep you shopping! Check out our store for more great orthotic solutions across a variety of great brands.