Do you slouch a lot or have poor posture? If the answer is yes, you most likely have mid back stiffness and neck pain. At Dee Why Chiropractic Care we educate each patient on how their posture is related to their neck pain and mid back stiffness and show them how to fix it.
When we have poor posture the mid back locked in a flexed/ slouched position, which then leads to increased stress on the neck and shoulders. What you should be aiming to do at home to help resolve this is working on your mid back extension to get your posture in an upright position.
Foam roller mid back extension:
When we have this posture we typically have this muscle imbalance:
- Tight chest muscles
- Weak muscles between the shoulder blades
- Tight shoulders
When correcting posture we need to correct this muscle imbalance in addition to working on mid back extension. The formula is pretty simple: Stretch the tight muscles and strengthen the weak muscles.
Chest stretch/ release:
Mid back strengthening exercise:
Shoulder release:
It ‘s important to know that correcting posture doesn’t happen overnight. You have to set time aside at least a few days a week to do these exercises. Overtime you will start to see improvements in your posture and a decrease in your neck pain and mid back stiffness.
Sometimes the exercises alone won’t resolve your symptoms. At Dee Why Chiropractic Care we do a full assessment of your posture and spine and tailor a treatment to get you out of pain as fast as possible. If you are suffering with neck pain and mid back stiffness and think we can help, don’t hesitate to contact us.