Reasons for Bad Posture

• Slouching in your chair can lead to bad posture. B2M Productions/Polka Dot/Getty Images

  Poor posture is one of the major reasons for back pain and other joint pain, according to Anthony Care, owner of Function First in San Diego. It can also cause early arthritis, spondylosis, loss of balance, sciatica and bursitis. Finding the main reasons for your bad posture can help you avoid these consequences.

Sitting Too Much

• Prolonged sitting in any position causes your deep abdominal and hip muscles to weaken. These stabilizing muscles support your body and maintain your posture when you stand, walk and play sports. According to Carey, when these muscles weaken from sitting, your spine and shoulders round forward, causing your chest and abdominal muscles to tighten. This causes your upper spine to curve out excessively, and your lower spine to reduce its natural curve. This occurs often among students in a classroom, and people who work and play in front of a computer for a long time. You can prevent poor posture by taking more frequent breaks from sitting to walk and stretch.

Elevated Shoes

• Women who wear high-heeled shoes often develop a different type of posture deviation. Since the feet are constantly plantarflexed, or having the heels elevated, this shortens the calf muscles and lengthens the muscles in the shin. This causes the pelvis to tilt forward, lifting the tailbone up. With the buttocks lifted, the lower spine excessively curves inward, compressing the lower spinal discs and muscles. This condition also causes knee pain, weak buttocks and abdominal muscles, upper back and shoulder pain and migraines, according to Carey.

  One exercise that you can do counter-balance the poor posture is by performing the standing heel drop. Stand at the edge of a stair step on the balls of your feet. Hold onto the wall or banisters to maintain your balance. Tighten your buttocks and slowly drop your heels over the step so that your toes are pointing up. You should feel a stretch in your calves and even your hamstrings. Hold this position for one to two minutes, rest for a few seconds, and repeat the stretch two to three times.

One-sided Sports and Activities

• Many athletes who play one-sided sports, such as baseball, golf and bowling can develop a rotational deviation, where one side of their torso and hip are rotated to the left or right. Physical therapist Gray Cook states that this posture causes the most pain and discomfort because one side of the body will compensate for the weakness or tightness of the other. This posture deviation also occurs in people who perform repetitive tasks that move in one direction, such as working as a cashier, warehouse worker, farmer or construction worker. One way to counter-balance this posture deviation is by moving the opposite way during work, and performing corrective exercises that moves your body the opposite direction.