How Posture Affects Your Body (and Ankles)

Written by on January 19, 2018 — Medically reviewed by John Doe

How Posture Affects Your Body (and Ankles)Article Last Updated:  November 1, 2024

When it comes to sitting, breathing, sleeping, walking, and even feeling right, it’s all about the posture.

Having great posture can help you feel confident with an abundance of physical wellness.

But when things aren’t feeling too great, and you’re suffering from major back and limb pains, it could very well be due to your poor posture.

It’s true: Posture affects everything in your body.

Posture can make or break your health. And the longer you go on with poor posture, the more likely you are to develop some serious physical, mental, and emotional issues.

Before the pains and strains on your body become too terrible to bear, it’s essential to learn why and how bad posture can affect your body and also your ankles.

What Does Good Posture Do For the Body?

The benefits of having good posture are limitless.

Since posture has to do with the curvature of the spine, you can judge whether or not you have good posture based on your spinal position. All your bones, ligaments, joints, and muscles are affected by both good and poor posture.

A few of the many advantages of keeping good posture include:

  • Strong and flexible muscles
  • High amounts of physical and mental energy
  • No wearing of the joints or ligaments
  • Proper spine structure
  • Efficient muscle use
  • Prevention of back pain
  • Normal joint flexibility and movement
  • Balanced upper body

If you naturally have good posture, you might not be consciously thinking about the position your back is in at all times. But for those who slouch, having a slumped or hunched-over look is all-too familiar.

Slouching over long periods of time can have serious, long-term health effects that become more and more difficult to reverse.

What Does Bad Posture Do For the Body?

Having poor posture can literally alter the shape and functionality of your whole body from your head to your feet.

Over time, your slouching and slumping will lead to a permanently hunched back.

Once your spine starts curving, the muscles around your back will begin to weaken, and won’t be able to support your back and core.

Muscle weakness allows your body to slouch even further.

Sounds painful, doesn’t it?

Indeed, having terrible posture can cause a world of pain and hurt for your back, limbs, ligaments, joints, and muscles.

Not only that, but in the worst case scenario, poor posture can also contribute to early organ failure, bad oxygen circulation, varicose veins, and poor digestion.

The more you slouch, the more you put unnecessary and unnatural weight and strain on your muscles, ankles, organs and joints.

Of course, sitting for hours on end at your desk job doesn’t help either. If you’ve got a 9-to-5 workday, you might feel the effects of bad posture every day.

The constant addition of stress and strain on your tendons and muscles can make them weaken and contract.

You may have noticed your flexiblity isn’t as good as it used to be and you are feeling stiffer…

Eventually, it may become difficult to even walk.

Those who have poor posture are at a much higher risk for contracting cardiovascular illnesses than those with great posture.

Bad posture can even cause serious ailments such as osteoporosis, kyphosis, and chronic pain.

More negative effects of bad posture include:

  • Potbelly
  • Hip issues
  • Knee issues
  • Weak ankles
  • Serious back, joint, and muscle pain
  • Muscle weakness
  • Bone strength erosion
  • Chronic headaches
  • Rounded shoulders
  • Permanent hunchback

Thankfully, there are simple solutions in how your less than optimal posture can be corrected.

In fact, one of the easiest to improve your poor posture and start retraining your body to adapt back to its natural alignment is through the use of a posture corrector brace.

Posture correctors are different from traditional back braces in that they don’t limit your mobility or make movement inconvenient in any way.

In fact, most posture correctors are so easy to slip on and take off, that they can be worn under the clothes without a trace.

Do Posture Corrector Braces Really Work?

Posture corrector braces are so functional and comfortable they can be worn during work, sports, play, driving, and sleep.

There are a wide variety of posture correctors available online, and most provide a great range of support and structure to help whip your mid/upper back, shoulders, and spine back into shape.

Posture braces are great for individuals of all shapes, sizes, and medical needs.

Whether you have a slight problem with your posture, or you are looking to relieve some major chronic pain, a posture brace can truly help.

These corrective braces are often small nylon or mixed material devices worn around the shoulders, clavicle and upper back depending on the design, reaching under the arms to attach on either side of the chest or waist.

There is a recognizable criss-cross pattern across the back, which works to ergonomically pull your shoulders back to encourage your spine to realign itself.

It is possible to correct the structure of the spine with an orthopedic back brace.

The way a back brace works is that it slowly retrains the muscles around the spine to grow strong again.

Once they are strong and capable of holding up weight, they will mold themselves to the new muscle memory and support the newly-shaped spine.

From then on, you can keep your back in straight alignment without having to use the brace for support.

Braces are meant to be temporary things, until your body can get a handle on the good posture itself.

The results typically appear within a few weeks!

Tips To Improve Your Posture

Aside from investing in a corrective posture back brace, there are several exercises you can employ at home to help get yourself into the right mindset.

The American Chiropractic Association recommends staying in constant practice with these DIY tips, as it can sometimes take several weeks or months to achieve permanent good posture.

Retraining your body to improve your posture is very possible – just check out these simple steps!

  1. Keep your weight on the balls of your feet when you are standing and sitting. That way, you aren’t adding extra pressure to the ankles and joints. If you stand for long periods of time, you can shift your weight back and forth between the toes and the ankles.
  2. Pull your shoulders down and backward when you want to sit up straight. This is the same method employed by the back braces; by keeping your shoulders down and back, you are able to keep your spine straight, your chest outward, and your neck standing tall and confident.
  3. Don’t cross your legs when you sit. Although it may be seen as proper courtesy to cross your legs while sitting, this can actually wreak havoc on your posture.Try to keep your ankles straight in front of your knees at all times when you sit down.
  4. Keep your stomach sucked in. Not only does it keep you looking slim, but it encourages your body to sit up straight and keeps your core strong.By keeping your tummy tucked in whenever you can consciously remember to, you are helping your body in the process of learning how to stay aligned.

BOTTOM LINE: POSTURE IS THE GLUE THAT KEEPS YOUR SKELETON TOGETHER!

Posture is the most important form of structure in the body other than your muscular skeleto structure.

When your posture is poor, it not only has tremendously terrible physical effects, but it also starts to erode your mental, emotional, and physiological health as well.

By keeping a close watch on how your posture may be affecting your body, you can understand how to implement corrective measures right away.

Posture corrective braces are an effective, affordable, and non-invasive way to correct your spine as quickly as possible.

With some of the most medically-recommended brands available, you can see results in as little as two weeks.

You can practice the at-home tips for correcting your posture in order to keep your body well-trained and your mind free of the stress and strain of a chronic health issue such as a knee replacement or a hip operation.

Share your improvements with your family and friends, and start a trend towards a healthier lifestyle.

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2 thoughts on “How Posture Affects Your Body (and Ankles)”

  1. There are so many benefits to keeping a good posture, that’s something I keep in mind because I work long hours at a desk. There are great tips, I follow most of what you suggest here but I’ve never tried a corrector brace, maybe I’ll look into it.

    Reply

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