Posture Supports - Do You Need Them?

First we need to clarify what you are hoping this posture support will do for you. Somewhere in our minds, "posture support" or "posture aid" has become "posture corrector." There's nothing wrong with searching the internet looking for things to improve your posture. I, for one, applaud your efforts! However, if you are looking for a "quick-fix" to years of postural damage, you are not going to find it with a support.
The good news is you don't need to spend an equal amount of time undoing the damage that took hours, days and years to accomplish. You'll need to work on improving your posture with exercise, but posture supports can be very helpful.
When driving, many care seats do not come with adequate lumbar support. It is a huge task to ask automakers to come up with a lumbar support to accommodate every shape and size of person. Some of your high-end vehicles have lumbar support that is adjustable and may suit your needs. However, there are plenty of products available (and some you can make on your own) to take care of helping you remember to sit up straight and support the normal curve of your low back while driving.
A simple low back support can work wonders in this task. If you have no idea what is a good size for you, start small. My patients are told to use a small hand towel, roll it up, and put rubber bands around it. Place it in the small of your low back. It's not going to stay in place unless you maintain good posture, and it can easily be put away if you don't like the looks of it sitting in your seat all day. You can move up to bigger towels and you don't have to use the entire towel to gather low back support. When sleeping, pillows work as great posture supports.
If you sleep on your back, a pillow under your knees will take a lot of pressure of your low back. When sleeping on your side, a pillow between your knees takes a tremendous amount of pressure of your hips. The key when working with any of these posture supports is keeping them in place while you're using them. In sleep, I've found the big "body pillows" to be very useful.
Other products that strap to your leg are available, if not very attractive. The body pillow works well and is very comfortable along with helping your shoulder position when sleeping on your side. Body pillows are also inexpensive and easy to use. Too many products require extended adjustment periods to get used to, allowing you to get regular use out of them. Not with the body pillow. I would imagine that within the first couple of days that you'll wonder how you've ever slept without one.
The body pillow is also very helpful in getting you off your stomach when you sleep. Making the transition from stomach sleeper to back sleeper is a big change. You're more likely to have success if you make the move from your stomach to your side. The pillow will create the positional support you need.

Improving Posture - Can You Do It Without Exercise?

There seems to be no end to the questions about how someone might change their bad posture without exercise. Posture supports, posture aids, and posture vests are just a few of the things out there trying to convince you that you don't need exercise to help correct something that you exercised your way into.
I exercised my way into bad posture? Sure you did. You used your muscles (exercised) by simply doing your normal daily activities the same way over and over again. While you were performing some activities repeatedly, other activities were being ignored altogether. Your normal movements usually consist of things done in front of you, while the workout of your back muscles is holding you up. That would be fine if you were in an ideal posture position all day, but usually you're not. You slump, you slouch, and sleep in the wrong way.
Your back muscles got longer and longer and hence weaker and weaker until they were asked to do the same work or more under less than ideal circumstances. Now you are hoping to correct weak muscles by holding them in place? By keeping them from moving? They have to move to get stronger! Sometimes posture just seems like this big spine problem, so you think that it's just about the bones.
So it makes sense to you that if you can put braces on teeth, why not just hold you bones in place. Your bones are supported by your muscles and you need your muscles to work at their best to make a difference in how which position your spine holds. Muscles can become shorter or longer depending on the exercises and movements for which they are used.
While this works against you with bad posture, this is the key component to how you're going to get your posture to change. This also means that should you do a great job changing your posture and are looking good, if you return to the same activities that got you into your bad posture in the first place, your bad posture will return.
Your muscles respond to the activities for which they are used. If your job puts a strain on your posture, it's up to you to do the exercises to counteract what's been going on all day. You must exercise to change your posture, and that is a good thing.

Posture Muscle Strength Activities

If you're planning on engaging in postural muscle strength activities in an effort to improve your posture, you should probably understand what you're trying to achieve. If all it took to improve your posture was exercise, why do so many people at the gym have bad posture?
I know, I know, not everyone at the gym is in good shape. Still, check out the people that are of average height and weight with average muscle tone. Shouldn't they have decent posture? It certainly makes sense that someone who sits at a computer all day and never exercises might develop bad posture, but how is it possible to work out and still not change your posture?
Typically, the exercises that people choose are not postural muscle strength activities, they are just activities. If rolling your shoulders forward and slouching are causing your problem, why would you hop on an exercise bike and slump over the handles? You are still maintaining the bad posture even while you exercise!
What about running? Running doesn't necessarily cause you to have bad posture, but there isn't a lot of back strengthening going on during this activity.
If you're going to set out to improve your back and your posture, choose postural muscle strength activities that actually work your postural muscles. Swimming certainly can increase back strength. Have you seen the big latismus dorsi muscles on Olympic swimmers?
When heading to the gym, realize that working the front of your body really means that you are not working the back. Work on your back muscles twice as much (at least) as you work your front. Many people (mostly men) like to be able to look in the mirror and see their big chest muscles and big bicep muscles. There's certainly nothing wrong with that as long as you're not sacrificing your back muscles for the sake of your front.
This really just means that if you want the big chest and arms, you're going to have to put in more work on your back muscles. The goal is to have good posture and thus be free of pain and look your best! In order to do this, you're going to have to give your postural muscles a fighting chance by strengthening them as often as possible.

Fashionable 'Slouch' Can Be Bad For Your Back

Eighty percent of the US population will at some point in their lives experience a bout of low back pain. In fact, it is the most common cause of work-related disability and the second-most common cause of physician visits behind the common cold and the flu. Low back pain costs the economy billions of dollars and places an incalculable toll on the livelihood of millions.
Call it the hunch or the slouch, the drooping hip-thruster walk of many celebrities is ergonomically incorrect and is a forerunner of America’s No. 1 disability which is back pain. This warning comes from a recent news service article that singles out the signature slouch of Gwyneth Paltrow, Kirsten Dunst, and Paris Hilton as unhealthy.
According to specialists writing in The Ergonomics Report, the pelvic tilt of the slouch pushes the belly forward and compresses the spine. The sustained stress of slouching can make people more vulnerable to musculoskeletal disorders.
Muscles adapt to a sloucher's round-shouldered posture, resulting in chest muscles that are short and tight and back muscles that are stretched and weak.
And do you know that even digestive problems, fatigue, and recurring headaches have been linked to poor posture? Research shows that slouching uses five times more energy than standing up straight, causing muscle tension and cutting blood flow to the brain.
Andrew Sherman, assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Miami's School of Medicine, further revealed that if slouching celebrities are doing it for fashion, they're going to suffer some aches and pains later.
Experts say a pain-free back isn't the only potential benefit of good body alignment: it makes people look 5 to 10 pounds slimmer by flattening the stomach.
But good posture takes work. Sadly it’s easier to slouch and harder to maintain good posture. You can try to hold your shoulders back but it's hard to think about posture 24 hours a day. It's better to do half an hour of exercise three times a week that targets the back.
However, good posture isn’t as bankable as a slouch. That’s the only way to explain why some celebrities choose to ignore it as a risk factor for back pain. But fashions change and the stars’ best hope of a pain-free future lies in the rapid disappearance of poor posture as an essential fashion accessory.
If you’re experiencing low back pain, don’t give in to fashion but practice good posture. Phosoplex can help ease low back pain. It’s the most powerful, natural, and safe solution that helps lubricate joints and rebuilds healthy cartilage. Check out www.phosoplex.com for more information.