A Posture Piece

Everyone’s obsessed with posture. “Fix your posture”, “sit up straight”, “pull your shoulders back”. The message is always the same: if you just tried harder, your pain would disappear.

Here’s the harder truth: posture is not the main villain most people make it out to be.

Research on chronic neck, shoulder and back pain shows that while sustained awkward positions can contribute to discomfort, they are rarely the root cause. Many people with “perfect” posture still hurt. Many with terrible posture feel fine.

Load, movement variety, sleep, stress and nervous system sensitivity usually matter far more (as shown in large reviews such as the 2022 Lancet Low Back Pain Series and work by researchers like Peter O’Sullivan and Lorimer Moseley).

Why Posture Obsession Often Misses the Point

Pain is a protective output from the brain and nervous system. Two important mechanisms explain why focusing only on posture often falls short:

•  Descending Modulation: Your brain can turn pain signals up or down. Safety, good sleep, understanding the pain, and gentle movement tend to turn the volume down. Fear and stress turn it up.

•  Fear-Avoidance & Neuroplasticity: When pain is scary, people often move less. This creates a vicious cycle. (I wrote more about this in my earlier post on the fear of re-injury and how to move again without constant worry.)

What Actually Helps

Instead of trying to hold “correct” alignment all day (which is exhausting and unrealistic), focus on this:

•  Move regularly — even 60 seconds of gentle thoracic extensions or shoulder rolls every 30–45 minutes beats perfect static posture.

•  Build strength in the areas that get neglected (upper back, posterior shoulders, deep neck flexors).

•  Aim for “good enough most of the time” instead of chasing perfection.

How I Work with This

As a chiropractor I use adjustments sparingly. My approach is straightforward: hands-on work (remedial massage, dry needling, Active Release), gentle mobilisations (especially thoracic), and realistic movement strategies you can actually use in daily life.

The goal isn’t perfect posture. It’s helping you feel more comfortable in the body you actually live in — the one that sits at a desk, carries kids, and gets tired.

You don’t need to sit like a soldier. You need to move like a human.