How Weight Gain and Loss Impact Spinal Posture and Alignment
Our spine’s alignment can be affected by various components, such as lifestyle habits, gravity and injuries. Body weight and muscle composition also play an impactful role in our spinal health. Excessive body weight can exert stress on the skeletal structure that further worsens the posture; so it is important to understand how a shift in weight affects your overall health and your body’s balance. To ensure proper spinal alignment and that we thrive in health, we must find equilibrium in the daily choices and activities within our lives, including our body weight.
The Influence of Weight Loss on Spinal Alignment and Posture
For those of us with additional body weight, back pain, neck pain, and other types of pain are frequent occurrences. Neck pain, shoulder ache, numbness in the arms and legs – these are all typical signs that the body is being weighed down by additional pounds. Our body weight has some predictable consequences on our health, so it can be valuable to monitor the feedback our body gives us to determine whether or not we are thriving at our current size.
Excess weight can place strain on the spine, resulting in compression and discomfort.
The spine can be greatly affected when the body is carrying extra weight. The frame of the body—our bones and joints—have to bear more weight than they are equipped to carry, causing compression on our spinal discs which act as cushions between each vertebrae. This additional strain takes a toll on your physical health, and makes it especially difficult to stay active in our daily routines.
Carrying excess weight not only increases the risk of slipped and herniated discs, but it can also be a source of agonizing pain and immobility. Apart from compressing the spine, this heaviness restricts flexibility as well as agility in your body.
Excessive Weight Can Compress Your Nerves
The delicate nerves in our body can become compressed and inflamed when other adjacent parts, such as muscles, joints, tendons or ligaments are strained due to excessive weight. This is because so many of the body’s systems rely on nerve signals for control – leading to a range of potential symptoms that may arise.
If nerves become inflamed, damaged or bruised, it can lead to a variety of symptoms such as indigestion, numbness and tingling sensations along with sharp pain and aching discomfort. Some other common signs include an abnormal heart rate or variability in the pulse rate.
The effect of gravity may be increased when we carry additional weight.
Gravity has a pervasive effect on our body’s daily life, compelling the cells to gravitate down. This is especially noticeable when standing upright and can make it hard to keep proper posture. In fact, gravity’s influence is what often leads people to hunch their shoulders and slouch in the first place.
The addition of extra weight can amplify the presence and power of gravity, adding a greater intensity to its downward force. Not only that but overburdening oneself with unnecessary pounds may also lead to abnormal postures such as rounded shoulders or forward-head posture. This problem is often compounded when left untreated leading to more severe issues.
Carrying excess weight can lead to poor circulation, ultimately impairing the flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout your body.
An excessive amount of weight can impede the circulation of blood in your body, since it is often linked to elevated cholesterol levels. Higher amounts of this fatty substance block veins and arteries which reduces the delivery rate for essential oxygen and nutrients across your body. With slowed movement also comes a slower detoxification rate because toxins are blocked as well when traveling around or out of your bloodstream.
Furthermore, the addition of extra weight can impede circulation. When an individual is carrying more than their body was built to handle, it forces that person’s muscles and tissues to compensate for the pressure. This can lead to areas with reduced flow—especially when activity is minimal or nonexistent.
Carrying extra body weight can hinder the proper functioning of your lymphatic system, reducing its natural flow and causing potential health issues.
Additional body weight can reduce lymphatic fluid flow, making it harder for the body to detoxify at a cellular level. This process is essential in keeping the body balanced and healthy; if obstructed, falling sick often may become normal.
Adjusting body weight can dramatically impact your body’s spinal alignment, giving you better posture and improved overall health.
When our body weight exceeds its capacity to carry that weight without degeneration, it can be extremely beneficial to adjust our body weight. Extra body weight intensifies gravity’s effect on our spine and delicate discs between each vertebra. These discs can be easily damaged under extra pressure, resulting in severe pain alongside numbness or tingling sensations throughout your physique.
Furthermore, carrying additional body weight can cause the spine to become misaligned over time. This is because extra pounds may be too taxing for your bones and muscles to support without becoming deformed. As a consequence, spinal discs might herniate or slip out of place – leading to long-term discomfort and pain.
Reducing extra body weight can aid in improving the body’s spinal alignment as it reduces any accumulated pressure that is keeping the spine from being properly aligned. Chiropractic treatment can be even more effective and results can occur even faster if your body isn’t carrying a significant amount of extra weight.
Chiropractic Care & Spinal Misalignment
Spinal misalignment is still treatable, even when the body is holding additional weight. However, the process of spinal correction can take longer and be a more difficult process because extra body weight can act as a stabilizing agent on the body, forcing it to return to a specific posture and contort the joints back out of alignment. While a marked improvement from chiropractic care is absolutely possible in the presence of extra body weight, it may also require more treatments over a longer duration to maximize effectiveness of treatment.
Reducing extra weight can help in your journey to restore proper alignment to your spine. Combining individualized exercise and nutrition with your chiropractic treatment for spinal misalignment may lead to transformative health improvements that you may not have expected, and can often help our patients feel years younger. Our patients report feeling invigorated, experiencing less pain, and enjoying greater mobility by adjusting their weight while following their chiropractic treatment plan.
Transform Your Life By Correcting Your Spinal Alignment – SpineWorks Chiropractic, London
If you’re eager to experience the transformative benefits of expert chiropractic care and spinal alignment, it’s time for a visit to SpineWorks Chiropractic to work with Dr. Luc Archambault. He has assisted thousands of patients in realigning their spines and helping them overcome pain. Our team has seen countless cases reversed or significantly improved, enabling people to discover new levels of quality life they never thought was possible. If you’re motivated to discover how proper spinal alignment can change your life and eliminate uncomfortable symptoms, book your appointment now. We can’t wait to meet you!
