Posture

Question 1

Name three extrinsic factor that affects posture.

Answer 1

 Personal habits
 Demands of the workplace
 Social and cultural traditions

Question 2

Swayback posture :
(a) Muscle length of the abdominal muscles (2)
(b) Position of the pelvis (2)

Answer 2

a)Long & Inefficient
b) Anterior pelvic shift

Question 3

Outline “ideal posture”.

Answer 3

Head neutral
Cx, Tx, Lx spines ‘straight’ (normal curves)
Shoulders level
‘windows’ – distance bet trunk & arms - equal
Illiac crests, ASIS/PSIS level
Hips in neither add/abd (neutral)
Legs in neither varus/valgus
Feet parallel/slightly out-toeing
Neutral foot (no pro/supination); vertical Achilles tendon
Feel weight passing through the feet just ant to the ankle jnt

Question 4

Flat back posture

Answer 4

Has a posterior pelvic tilt (reduces lumbar lordosis)
Upper Tx flex, lower Tx- flattened
Hips – ext; knee ext or sometimes flexed; ankle PF
Abdominal muscles shortened while erector spinae are weak and lengthened
May be accompanied by a poking chin
Long & weak: Psoas; glutes
Short & strong: hammies; abd; gastrocs

Question 5

List distinctive features of kyphotic posture

Answer 5

Increased posterior curvature of the spine

Common in the elderly

Results in cervical spine compensations = muscle tension and joint compressions = pain and headaches

Shortening of all muscles on anterior chest wall and lengthening of erector spinae muscles

Can be due to shortened hip flexors or as a result of a compensation.

Question 6

Give the attachment points and function of the pectoralis minor

Answer 6

stabilization, depression, abduction or protraction, internal rotation and downward rotation of the scapula.
It arises from ribs III-V; it inserts onto the coracoid process of the scapula.