About 20% of the clients I work with come to see me because they want to be proactive with their health, age better, reduce their risk of future injuries and improve the way they look. The remaining 80% come to me because they’re in pain, and they want it to stop.

For some the pain is a mild annoyance, whereas for others it is literally debilitating, affecting their ability to play a sport, do an activity, play with their children/grandchildren and to just do their job comfortably.

I myself suffered with chronic pain for years (you can read a little bit about that here) and it’s one of the reasons I trained as a Posture Specialist.

I know how it can affect you not just physically but also mentally, and how frustrating and lonely it can be.

Apart from improving my posture, one of the big things that helped was me asking and exploring what pain actually is.

I often tell people that pain, as horrible as it can be, is just a warning sign, a signal from your body telling you that something is not quite right and that you need to take some kind of action.

For example, if you touch a hot stove, the pain receptors in your hand will definitely give you a signal, and force you to move your hand away.

If it’s not too bad of a burn the pain will go away because the reason for that pain has gone.

The same thing often applies to the chronic pain you feel in your back, or hip or neck, and with the clients I work with often the root cause is faulty alignment in their posture.

This may be causing certain muscles to overwork, or other structures within the body to be worn away, impinged or irritated.

What’s the response from the body? Pain!

Often with the clients I work with, if we can improve their body alignment, then we stop or reduce this overworking, wear and tear, impingement and irritation. Over time there is no need for the signal, and the pain reduces or goes away.

So why I am writing all of this?

Firstly, it’s to say if you are in pain, you are not alone. There are so many people dealing with chronic pain and the statistics on it would blow your mind!

Secondly, from my own experience of dealing with pain and from working as a Posture Specialist with countless others, I know things can get better so don’t give up!

Thirdly, with the clients I work with, often the root cause of their pain is faulty alignment in their posture, and improving this can make all the difference (learn more about Posture Correction Therapy here).

Lastly, it’s that simply remembering that pain, as horrible as it can feel, is just a warning sign, a signal telling you that something is not right, and needs to change, can help give you some piece of mind and take away a little bit of the fear of actually being in pain.

Take care and I hope this helps.

Ameet Bhakta BSc. DipHE, Posture Specialist in London and Tunbridge Wells, and founder of Health Through Posture