9 . Rounded Lower Back
Rounded lower back is becoming increasingly common as a postural distortion pattern . It involves excessive posterior tilt of the pelvis and either hypolordosis of the lumbar spine or an actual reversal of the lumbar spine into kyphosis . This condition is caused by collapsing the entire trunk forward , and in the context of smart phone use , occurs when using the smart phone down low in front of the body , often in the lap . Over time , the assumption of this posture , as with all chronic postures , will result in locked short and locked long musculature , as well as fascial adhesions that will effectively “ glue ” the tissues to become stuck in this posture . The collapsed posture of rounded lower back usually couples with the collapsed postures of rounded upper back and rounded shoulders , as well as forward head posture ( see Figure 6 ).
Locked Short and Locked Long
There is an old saying that goes “ There is no such thing as a bad posture , as long as you don ’ t get stuck in it .” This describes the idea that functionally being able to move in and out of any posture is fine . However , when a person continually / chronically assumes the same posture , the body ’ s tissues do tend to get stuck in it . Getting stuck can involve increased muscle baseline tone via the sliding filament mechanism ( termed adaptive shortening ) as well as the formation of fascial adhesions . With any given posture , the myofascial soft tissues on one side of the joint are shortened and the myofascial soft tissues on the other side of the joint are lengthened . Therefore , we can describe the tissues on the short side of the posture as locked short , and the tissues on the long side as locked long . And because the length tension relationship curve ( that describes the strength of a muscle at its various lengths ) shows that both shorter and longer muscles tend to become weaker , the result is that we have tight and weak muscles on both sides of the joint , regardless of whether they are short or long .
Oncology : Supportive Integrative Therapies
Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 August 2023 Sofitel Brisbane Central or via Live Stream
Early bird closes 30 June 2023
Click here for more information
Inspiring people to live better lives through natural healthcare