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Your posture speaks a lot about you. Sitting and standing straight can portray confidence. Many people who slouch show timidity. Poor posture has negative effects on our bodies, causing pain in the neck and back. But in this article, we will be considering poor posture effects on the stomach pain.
Poor posture can cause gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms such as acid reflux and other health problems. The more you lean forward, the more your internal organs are compressed, including the gastrointestinal tract. This constriction of the abdomen can cause symptoms of gastrointestinal upset and even acid reflux.
Before we consider the effects of poor posture on stomach pain, let us first of all look at stomach pain, types of stomach pain, and the causes of stomach pain.
What is Stomach Pain?
Stomach pain is pain that occurs in the area between the chest and pelvic areas. It is also known as abdominal pain. It can be cramping, painful, dull, intermittent or acute. Inflammation or diseases that affect the organs of the abdomen can cause abdominal pain. The main organs located in the abdomen include intestines (small and large), waist, appendix (part of the large intestine), spleen, stomach, gallbladder, liver, pancreas, Viral, bacterial or parasitic infections that affect the stomach and intestines can also cause severe abdominal pain.
Types of Stomach Pain
Localized pain is limited to an area of the abdomen. This type of pain is often a result of problems in a particular organ. Stomach ulcers (open sores in the inner lining of the stomach) are the most common cause of localized pain.
Cramp-like pain may be associated with diarrhea, constipation, swelling or flatulence. In women, it can be associated with periods, spontaneous abortions or complications in the female reproductive organs. This pain comes and goes, and can go away by itself without treatment.
Colon pain is a symptom of more serious conditions, such as gallstones or kidney stones. This pain appears suddenly and may seem like a severe muscle spasm.
Causes of Stomach Pain
There are numerous causes of abdominal pain. However, the main causes are infection, abnormal growth, inflammation, obstruction (blockage) and intestinal discomfort.
Infections of the throat, intestines, and blood can cause bacteria to enter your digestive tract, causing abdominal pain. These infections can also cause changes in digestion, such as diarrhea or constipation.
Menstrual cramps are also a potential source of low abdominal pain. However, most of the time, they cause pelvic pain.
Furthermore, the effects of poor posture can also cause pain in the stomach. Continue reading to know how this happens.
Other common causes of abdominal pain include:
- Constipation
- Gastroenteritis (stomach flu)
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Acid reflux (when stomach contents return to the esophagus, causing heartburn and other symptoms)
- Stress
Diseases that affect the digestive system can also cause chronic abdominal pain. The most common are:
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- Lactose intolerance (inability to digest lactose, the sugar found in milk and dairy products)
- Crohn’s disease (an inflammatory bowel disease)
- Irritable bowel syndrome or spastic colon (a disorder that causes abdominal pain, cramping and changes in stool)
Causes of severe abdominal pain include:
- Organ rupture or near rupture (such as broken appendix or appendicitis)
- Kidney infection
- Kidney stones
- Gallbladder stones (called gallstones)
Poor Posture Effects on Stomach Pain
The effects of poor posture on the body can cause a lot of problems such as back pain, chest pain, and stomach pain.
Our general behavior while sitting, whether eating or working, is often practiced without thought or attention. Poor posture has physical effects on our back and spine as we know it, but it can also have effects on the stomach causing pain. It affects the optimal functioning of the intestine. Although digestive health problems can be caused by a wide variety of factors, poor posture can contribute to stomach problems such as acid reflux or heartburn. Perhaps the persistent discomfort and swelling after lunch are not so much about what you eat, but about how you sit when you eat it.
Continue reading to know more about poor posture effects on the stomach pain
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Bad posture can make digestion difficult. Slouching compresses the space in the abdomen, putting undue pressure on the back and stomach. This squeezes the internal organs and impairs digestion. For the most efficient digestion, your stomach and intestines need enough room to work.
Furthermore, poor posture can trigger heartburn and acid reflux (which can force stomach acid in the wrong direction). This pressure poor posture puts on the stomach is not healthy, but it is particularly unhealthy while the stomach tries to digest food. Poor posture can slow down digestion. Also, poor digestion can lead to other bodily problems.
How Poor Posture Can Cause Stomach Pain?
More specifically, if you tend to slouch your upper back, you are more likely to experience reflux. On the other hand, sagging the lower back can cause bloating and gas damage after a meal. Either way, it can only lead to you having issues with digestion.
Slouching affects the ability of our diaphragm to function, a muscle that helps us breathe.
Firstly, the diaphragm supports the contractions that move food through the esophagus. The esophagus passes directly through the muscular part of the diaphragm. Each time the diaphragm contracts, it lets the food pass and prevents stomach acid from rising into the mouth. If there is undue tension or contraction in the diaphragm due to poor posture, this can have an effect on this mechanism and cause acid reflux.
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Secondly, the diaphragm plays a role in peristalsis which is the movement of food through the intestine. The vagus nerve manages this movement that goes from the brainstem to the diaphragm in the intestine. If we press the diaphragm by hunching or slumping, it can affect the nerve signals that go through it and cause it to slow down.
Thirdly, the vagus nerve stimulates the production of hydrochloric acid that affects the way we break down food in the stomach. Therefore, if this is also disturbed and on the slow side, food can remain in the digestive tract for too long. Hence, causing unpleasant symptoms such as gas, bloating and constipation.
Finally, the nervous system, whose central road is the spine, is closely related to the nerve plexus of the intestine. So, if there is tension in the spine and central nervous system, it can also put tension in the intestine.
You may ask, how do the effects of poor posture relate to stomach pain?
As earlier stated, poor posture causes acid reflux. The common symptoms of acid reflux are heartburn and regurgitation. Heartburn is the burning pain or discomfort that can pass from the stomach to the abdomen or chest, or even to the throat. Regurgitation is a sour taste in the throat or mouth.
The pain you feel in your stomach can be a result of acid reflux and indigestion which is one of the effects of poor posture on the body.
Therefore, some of the pain we feel in the stomach can be traced to the effects of poor posture on the stomach.
Correcting your posture helps your body process food efficiently and pairing that with your nervous system’s benefits from seeing a chiropractor makes the effects of poor posture go away.
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Tips for Gut-Friendly Posture
1. Take Regular Breaks in Your Day if You are in the Office
Even if we exercise regularly, it’s not just about that one class or gym training, and then sitting all day. Also try to move a little during the day, as it moves the entire body and is better for mobility and posture.
2. Get Your Desk Sorted
If you have an employer that offers an ergonomic evaluation, do it! If you work from home, you may want to consider getting a standing desk.
3. Use your Training to Promote Better Posture
Targeted exercise, which could be a combination of Pilates, yoga and weight resistance, can help. Work with a personal trainer or start with beginner classes to get the correct technique first. Even if you have done them in the past, or if you are really a regular, it is good to remember the basics because you can do more harm than good if you do not.
4. Mindful Eating
It is a practice that we can all do a little more and that includes sitting instead of slumping when we eat to help maintain optimal bowel function. Start by having a small cushion against your lower back if you have problems with this.
5. Practice Better Breathing
Shallow breathing, which occurs when we are in the fight or flight stress mode, is not conducive to rest and digestion. Long and slow abdominal breathing allows us to be in a better state more frequently and acts as a fairly instantaneous stress reliever, and also helps the intestine to function better.
6. Book a Posture Evaluation
Visit a specialist in physiotherapy or a personal trainer. It is a great investment to discover the areas that need more attention and how to respond to them.
7. Try these key exercises to improve posture and space in the abdomen
CAT/COW
This improves mobility in the upper and lower back. Concentrate on gradually increasing the extension of the upper back and avoid overarching the lower back.
How to do it: Hands under the shoulders, knees under the hips. Lift the center of the spine as if you were pulling a rope, then lower the chest until the upper back arches slightly. Repeat 10 to 12 repetitions.
Progress: use a foam roller behind the back between the shoulder blades to release tension before starting the exercise.
HIP TILT INTO GLUTE BRIDGE
This exercise also strengthens and balances the buttocks and helps minimize general lordosis (lumbar lordosis) in the lower back.
How to do it: Lie down with your feet, knees bent and tilt your pelvis up to mobilize your lower back and stabilize your pelvis. Then lift your hips. Repeat 10 to 12 repetitions.
Progress: add a resistance band around the knees.
RESISTANCE BAND PULL-APART
This strengthens the upper back and shoulders (rotator cuff) and encourages external rotation of the shoulder joint and shoulder blades to improve the posture of the upper back.
How to do it: Hold a resistance band in front of your shoulders with your arms extended, separate them, bring the band close to your chest and shoulder blades, while turning your hands outward. Raise slowly at the starting point. Repeat for 10-12 repetitions.
Progress: includes high and low angles.
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Conclusion
Poor posture effects on the stomach pain can be very uncomfortable. There is a need to work on having a straight posture to reduce the effects of poor posture on the stomach pain.
If you suffer from bloating, discomfort, constipation, IBS, acid reflux or excess gas after eating, the next time you sit down to eat, pay close attention to how you treat your posture and, in turn, your diaphragm.
If it is possible, have the legs at a more open angle, rather than a full right angle with the spine, that is even better because it opens up more space for the intestine.
Keep in mind what you are wearing and how much you are restricting the area of your stomach.
Furthermore, try gentle yoga stretches shortly after eating to mobilize and lengthen your bowel. Also, drink lots of water and eat lots of fiber to keep your digestive system moving!
If you keep having reoccurring stomach pain, please visit your doctor for proper examination and treatment.
