Guest Author - Lisa Shea

A sign of poor posture is when your shoulders are rounded, or hunched. Here are ways in which to handle a rounded shoulder problem.

First, why do rounded shoulders matter? Your body was designed to work in a natural position. When you round your shoulders - i.e. let your shoulders sag inwards, you are collapsing your chest cavity area. This means your lungs have a much harder time doing their job. Also, it puts a lot of stress on your upper back, shoulder and neck areas. These areas can become quite sore.

Wearing a very light tshirt, stand by a full length mirror. Stand sideways to the mirror so that you can see your profile. The spine should naturally curve in a little at your lower back, then go upwards relatively straight. It should not have a hard "forward curve" at the top. Try pushing your shoulders back. Remember your parents and teachers telling you to "stand up straight"? This is what they were trying to achieve.

One way to tell if your shoulders are rounded is to look at where your hands fall when you stand like this. Are your palms pointing at your legs? This would be the normal, proper position. Are your palms pointing backwards? This would be a sign that your shoulders were too hunched or rounded.

A good exercise here is to roll your shoulders - make your shoulders move forward, then up, then back, then down. Do this in a smooth, rolling motion several times. This will help your shoulders get used to moving "back" into the proper location.

Sometimes a rounded shoulder problem can be made worse if you sleep on your side, curled up in a fetal position. You are rounding your back all night long. Instead, try learning to sleep flat on your back at least sometimes. It can be hard to learn a new sleep position - it feels very unnatural at first. However, give it a serious effort for at least two weeks.

In the end, helping your posture not have rounded shoulders can have a big impact on your level of shoulder pain, neck pain, and even on how well you feel in general since it can help with your breathing. It's well worth putting the effort into handling.