Posture and Health

The picture on the left has a man standing on two feet with his weight distributed evenly. The picture on the right has a man leaning to one side with most of his weight on one foot. There are many variations observable but essentially ones weight does not get distributed evenly and this throws the hips out. The problem with the right picture is that gravity becomes this man’s enemy when he throws his weight off center. Notice how even the shoulders slant to the side. From the bottom of the tail bone to the uppermost cervical everything goes out and remains in a highly stressed situation.

You would be surprised to know that more than seventy percent of humanity stands on one foot. Next time you go into a bank just take a look around at how everyone is standing. When a person stands off center most of the weight of the body gets shifted off center. This stresses even the internal organs. What also happens when the hips go out of place is that it leaves one leg shorter than the other. This can be seen by looking at the difference between the ankle bones below.

This becomes a chronic problem with the hips being constantly out. It is very rare that a person’s actual leg lengths are this much off. With the entire body constantly off center stress points accumulate in the spinal column, neck, shoulders, jaws, and even in the internal organs. Taken to an extreme you find peoples’ spinal disks herniating and this is painful to the extreme.

Even in the world of Chiropractic, it is only the rare practitioner who will point this out and begin the difficult reconditioning of the mind that entails repeated confrontation with the patient to correct such a problem. It is certainly not an easy habit to change involving both psychological and spiritual aspects of life. Yet what is the alternative when someone is suffering from structural stress? Doctors would prefer to do surgery then bother taking the time with patients.

The fact is that when we constantly shifting our weight to one side nothing will redo the damage and the pain except relearning to position our stance equally even when standing for long periods of time. One can go to the chiropractor or do physical therapy or whatever but nothing will compensate for gravity is constantly working against us and our health.

Chiropractors who use the DeJarnne blocking system know of this problem and treat it. At home we can have someone look at our leg lengths by comparing the ankle bones and then lift the short leg side while securing the long leg side with one’s thigh. The person pulls gently at first and then possibly a bit more firmly on the short leg side if there is no or little pain.

In highly inflammatory situations a professional is needed but for the ordinary person who wants to reposition their posture this is ok to do at home. For even when we start to stand correctly we still have to help the hips move back into position. After each tug on the short leg side reposition the ankle bones together to see the effect. Also, especially in painful conditions, instead of pulling on the leg in any kind of jerking motion, use gradual traction pressure. That means start pulling on the leg and gradually build up the force if there is no pain and then hold for ten to twenty seconds.