The first thing to remember about posture, for most people it’s only one piece of the puzzle. There are plenty of people with relatively “good” posture and in significant pain, while others with “bad” posture experience very little pain. Pain, especially chronic pain is very complex, costing billions of dollars every year to the Australian economy, if it was a matter of sitting up straight the problem would be easily fixed.
If most people were to base the success of a treatment on pain relief, most wouldn’t keep going back multiple times a week or regularly for months, most end up returning on under the guise of having their posture corrected or spine realigned, they assume it’s normal to only get symptomatic relief because they’re so “broken” not because the inefficiency of the chiropractor. Also, the idea of fixing posture or realigning the spine drives passive treatment, so you have to keep going back to maintain your “posture”, “alignment” so it doesn’t get any worse, you essentially become dependent on expensive therapy, which is great from a financial point of view for the chiropractor but you the pain sufferer end up paying for treatment that offers nothing more than the placebo effect.
The Power Of Placebo.
There are many spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on treatment that offer nothing more than the placebo effect! Any chiropractor claiming to fix posture in a 10-15 minute treatment and without addressing the underlying muscle imbalances offer nothing more than placebo, they would much rather have you believe they’re fixing posture, than actually spend the 30-60 minute’s required treating the underlying muscle imbalances. Similar to misalignments/scoliosis, you can get months of “corrective treatment”, take an x-ray and bingo! nothing has changed… besides your bank account. It’s worth noting alignment is usually determined by bone shape due to age related wear and tear, so a chiropractor claiming to fix alignment/scoliosis is essentially claiming to regenerate and remodel your bone so your vertebra go from wedged shape (normal age related wear & tear) to perfectly square. Hallelujah, it’s a miracle!!!
A Muscle Problem.
The video below demonstrates a typical muscle imbalance that causes rounded shoulders and forward neck posture. Me personably, I treat the muscles within a wholistic context and rarely focus just on posture.
Chiropractic is great at treating the spinal joints and pain, however, the “cracking” sound is gas bubbles being released from the joints, it has nothing to do with bones being re-aligned or put back into place or fixing posture. Any chiropractor telling you otherwise is misleading you, as there is no scientific evidence suggesting that releasing the facet joints of the spine corrects long term muscle imbalances and posture, assuming it’s a problem in the first place!
Treat The Person, Not The Posture.
If you are in chronic & long term pain, waive a wand and give you “perfect posture”, but keep the chronic muscle tension in around the shoulders & neck, sit all day, stressed, poor sleep patterns, poor nutrition and lack exercise, how much is your pain going to change and for how long? So even if you are getting treatment that supposedly fixes your posture, make sure they’re treating you wholistically and your pain levels should be well under control within 2-5 weekly sessions, if your needing multiple visits a week and regular treatment for months those results are similar to over the counter medication.
Don’t Let a Few Bad Apples Ruin The Cart.
Not all chiropractors are deceitful, most aren’t, but unfortunately, there are enough out there making claims that go against basic principles on what we know about the human body, posture, pain and movement. It’s always best to seek treatment from a provider who is evidenced based, who treats you as a person, not as posture/alignment, does not use x-rays which decades of research show are useless for the vast majority of people and who treats you with the intent of resolving your pain rather than getting you back for multiple visits a week or long term “correction plans” for their own financial gain.