How is your posture right now? Given the considerable time many of us spend hunched over our screens, bad posture has become somewhat of an epidemic, causing a multitude of chronic health issues, according to Kompal Parmar, a licensed physician in Lubbock, Texas. “We see this frequently, especially in young people due to the use of mobile phones, tablets, and computers,” says Parmar. “Without the proper awareness while using these tools, we face spinal alignment issues in the future.” Studies indicate that bad posture can lead to a range of chronic health problems including neck and back pain, joint damage, headaches, poor digestion, and even breathing issues.
How We Chose the Best Posture Correctors
To be effective, all the experts we spoke with emphasized the importance of using posture correctors as a tool to help your body train – not as a crutch that does the work for you. “It’s a good reminder to use alongside regular exercise to strengthen the core and back muscles,” says Noam Tamir, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and founder of TS Fitness in New York. “However, it’s just a temporary solution.”
Best Posture Correctors of 2023
The best posture correctors for your body should be comfortable and not cause any pain. For example, “a tight sports bra can cause neck pain,” says Vinita Chandra Mody, a physical therapist and founder of Stroma Physical Therapy in New York. “It’s about finding the balance.” All the options listed below are directly recommended by one of our experts. We’ve included both digital and physical posture correctors.
How to Shop for Posture Correctors
According to the experts we spoke to, the best posture corrector is one that you will use regularly as part of a healthy exercise routine. Because people vary, there’s no one device or app that works for everyone. To find the right device for you, consider the following points:
Comfort and ease of use. Posture correctors should not be so tight that they cause pain. Although many are designed to be worn all day, Mody suggests aiming to wear them for half an hour at a time every few hours to remind you to activate the muscles that help you sit straight and tall. If you’re not wearing the device all day, it’s especially important that the posture corrector is easy to put on and take off.
Style. Consistency is the key factor when it comes to posture correctors. If you’re concerned about aesthetics, a posture corrector that can be worn under your clothes might be the most suitable.
Adaptability. While all the experts we spoke to love the idea of a digital reminder to correct your posture, you should also consider your track record with fitness devices and similar apps. If your new fitness watch always ends up in a drawer after a few weeks, you might find that a simple physical posture corrector you can wear with your clothes is more suitable for your lifestyle. Conversely, if you enjoy tracking your health data in an app, you might find a digital sensor more appealing.
Why Is Good Posture Important?
Bad posture can cause problems beyond back pain. “The spine is the pivot point for the body; when it’s affected, it impacts the body as a whole beyond just obvious back and neck pain,” says Mody. Neck imbalance can lead to jaw tension, causing headaches and affecting sleep, and posture also impacts the lungs and digestive system due to the compression when bending.
Hunching also makes a person more prone to injury, says Tamir. “When you’re lifting things, you’re more likely to get injured [when you have bad posture],” he says. For example, “when you lift your arm to grab something, because of your shoulder posture when hunched, you increase the likelihood of shoulder impingement.”
HowDo posture correctors work?
Posture correctors can be classified into two main categories describing their function:
Physical support: Physical posture correctors come in various forms – including sports bras and neutral gender support devices – but they primarily work by pulling back the shoulder muscles, according to Parmar.
Digital sensing: Instead of physically adjusting your posture, digital posture correctors use sensors to track your movement and remind you to sit up straight. “This helps gradually retrain the right muscles to help us maintain proper posture,” according to Parmar.
Ultimately, both types of posture correctors have the same goal, which is “to activate the muscles so that you sit upright to align the spine,” according to Mody.
Think of each type as a biofeedback tool designed to help you learn to correct your posture on your own. “The primary goal of biofeedback is to ultimately get rid of the external device,” according to Mody. The most important stage is transferring that knowledge into a sustainable effect so that you no longer need that crutch.”
Are posture correctors effective?
If used correctly, both types of posture correctors can be effective. In fact, a posture corrector should not do the work for you, but rather retrain your muscles to maintain correct posture autonomously, according to our experts. “What they are all trying to do is change your behavior,” says Mody. When you’re continuously slouching, he explains, “the back-end program that runs in your brain starts to say, this is a good posture because this is the position you stay in while sitting at your desk.” A posture corrector helps remind your brain to activate the muscles that support proper posture.
For a posture corrector to be effective, it should be used as part of your exercise routine, not as a substitute for it, according to our experts. “It aims to create good habits,” according to Dr. Parmar.
Are posture correctors safe?
Posture correctors are completely safe, according to our experts. If there is any risk in using them, it could be in how they are positioned on the body, which could pose a problem for some people with mobility issues – especially in the neck and shoulders. In this case, our experts recommend finding an option that you can wear and adjust, or alternatively choosing a digital posture corrector.
Meet our experts
At Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure that all expert advice and recommendations are done independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
Vinita Chandra Mody, MScPT, is a physical therapist and founder of Stroma Physical Therapy in New York. She has nearly two decades of experience as a physical therapist analyzing and modifying movement patterns and specializes in sports rehabilitation, headaches, pediatric treatment, and women’s health.
Noam Tamir, CSCS, is a certified strength and conditioning specialist and FRC movement specialist as well as a certified pre- and post-natal coach. He is the founder of TS Fitness in New York.
Kompal Parmar, M.D., is a board-certified chief physician in Lubbock, Texas.
Why trust Select?
Mikaela Mackenzie is a journalist and former editor at Glamour magazine and has covered beauty and health treatment topics for over a decade. For this article, Mackenzie spoke with experts including a certified trainer, a physical therapist, and a doctor about the importance of good posture and the role posture correctors can play in overall health and fitness.
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