Had a few clients mention recently that other people have been commenting on their posture and they are concerned to find out that one shoulder is higher than the other.

Personally I am in the camp that poor posture and its impact on pain is over diagnosed. There are people with notionally “poor” posture who are pain free and others who have more normal posture who have significant pain issues.

The range of asymmetry that someone can normally tolerate is, in fact, probably quite a lot although it may vary significantly from person to person. On average, a healthy individual can probably easily accommodate posture which is considered to be poor with few issues.

That is not to say that relatively obvious and avoidable postural strains can lead to pain such as back pain, headaches, stiff neck, etc. In many situations the pain can be relieved easily enough just by avoiding obviously poor posture. However these are normally the result of postural strain rather than poor posture.

If you are interested in reading a little more about posture then can I suggest you read the following article – it’s a little lengthy but easy reading that is well worth the few minutes it will take to read.

https://www.painscience.com/articles/posture.php

The following quote is taken from the article.

Should you try to change your posture?

There’s no basis for “shoulding” when it comes to posture. If the only reason you want to change your posture is on principle, I don’t recommend it. It’s not worth the trouble. You are not a good candidate for this process. There are probably a hundred more useful things you could do with your time.

The cure can turn out to be worse than the disease. A bad postural habit is not unlike an addiction. Trying to live with better posture may cause more problems, or be more uncomfortable, than whatever it was that drove you to try to improve your posture in the first place.

There is also information about what to do if you do decide that you actually wish to change your posture https://www.painscience.com/articles/posture.php#sec_how

……………………………….