As technology advances and desk jobs become more and more prominent, our bodies get the memo to start slouching over our screens, nestling us into poor postures and lower back and neck pain. Our bodies are becoming more and more familiar with sitting for long periods, with 66.6% of people sitting at their desk for more than six hours in a workday, and 50% sitting for more than eight hours a day. 

Sitting down for a majority of every day can cause some bad low back pain later in life, and at this rate, it’s not looking like it’s getting any better. Poor posture doesn’t just impact our physical health, either — with poor posture linked to depressive disorders and a general lack of confidence, it’s a worry for our mental health, too. 

So, what are the long-term effects a poor posture can have on your spine? And is there anything you can do to counteract those effects?

To counteract the effects of a poor posture, the first step is to readjust. To correct your posture, you have to establish and train a correct sitting and standing position into your everyday routine. But it can be tricky to know how to train yourself into a proper sitting and standing position if you weren’t sure how to hold yourself, to begin with. This is often when people turn to posture correction.

A posture corrector is a lightweight, wearable technology that should be comfortable to wear when you’re standing as you usually would, in a neutral position.

When you start to show signs of slouching or hunching your back, the posture corrector will correct the position of your spine, to right itself. The thing is, posture correction is not always perceived positively in the health industry.

“Many health professionals that work with spinal health consider posture correctors to be counterproductive,” writes Jason Gilbert, a sports physician. “They say that posture correctors make muscles lazy and consequently dysfunctional.”

This stems from the idea that posture correctors physically pull the shoulders back, which would alter posture by weakening other important muscles. But a good posture corrector should not be doing any muscular damage.

So, a good posture corrector should not be significantly impacting the state of your muscles but should be reminding you to change your posture on your own, like an alarm that goes off a few times a day.

Because of this, the benefits of a posture corrector really depend on your personal needs — in terms of the lifestyle changes you’re willing to make, and how much back support you need due to the lower back pain you’re experiencing.

A posture corrector can work, yes, but putting on a back brace isn’t going to fix your pain overnight. The journey to the best posture is a long one. Your results are dependent on the other lifestyle changes you’re making to counteract the effects of a poor posture.

Your posture corrector should be used in tandem with fitness routines to eliminate the pain you’re experiencing. These routines should be designed by a professional physical therapist that can adequately assess your situation.

There are so many factors that can contribute to a poor posture, mostly related to muscle pain like muscle tightness, joint stiffness, muscle weakness, general condition, sleep, stress and beliefs about posture, according to senior physiotherapist Leslie Trigg.

These factors need to be targeted by a physiotherapist to minimise any long-term dependence on a posture corrector. Incorporating essential physical therapy knowledge into your lifestyle, working in tandem with the positive benefits of a posture corrector, can reassure you that you’re minimising the long-term effects of a bad posture.