Hi there,  if you are looking for an unbiased review of a posture corrector, and useful information to help you maintain a great posture, then you have come to the right place! We discuss a wide range of topics related to back health and love hearing about your own experiences. Follow us by clicking the big blue “Get PostureSorted” button.    Dave PostureSorted.com

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Can a Posture Corrector Help You?

Yes it certainly can, if , you have the right posture corrector for  your unique needs. The ultimate aim is to have a great posture which will lead to personal self-confidence and long term back health. There are so many different products available that it can be overwhelming trying to find one that matches your needs. Well, relax and read on – we have done the thinking for you!

In the busy world that we all operate in, correct posture can easily be a casualty of lifestyle. Our hope is that you will return to PostureSorted.com to share your thoughts and personal experiences of both the products you will discover here, and the products that you already value.

What is Posture?

To decide whether a posture corrector is right for you, it is useful to have some understanding of what “posture” actually is. Here is a link to a post we wrote about the topic.  What is posture?  Clearly, your posture is dependent on a number of factors including the tone of your back supporting muscles, and the way you hold yourself during a normal day. To make long term improvements to your back health, you need to both strengthen those supporting muscles, remain or regain flexibility, and correct your posture. The third requirement is where posture correctors and back braces can have a part to play.

The Best Posture Corrector

The best posture corrector both corrects your postural alignment and encourages muscle strength and flexibility. It is always important that you don’t rely totally on the posture corrector as this can lead to a lack of strength. A balanced approach is the key. The link table above contains our current top rated posture correctors and back braces. Simply click on the review button to be taken to our latest review of the selected product. The “purchase” button at the end of each review will take you to the best price we can find, either on Amazon or directly to the manufacturer. Walk tall. Dave

Our 4 Factor Review Scale

All our product reviews are based on a four factor criteria. Effectiveness – does the product work? Simple. Durability – can you expect the posture corrector last in normal use? Ease of Use – how easy (or difficult) is the product to use? Price / Value – does the posture corrector give you value for your dollar? There is a difference between “value” and “cheap”!

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Some common questions that people ask about back health and posture corrector:

1. The role of muscle strength in posture

There is no denying that muscle strength (or tone) has an important role to play in maintaining a healthy back. In simple terms, your back health is dependent on alignment (posture), support (muscle tone), and flexibility (range of movement). These three factors continually work together to keep your back healthy.

The problem is, that it is easy for one, or all of them, to stop working properly. This is sometimes due to injury, but more usually due to lifestyle over time. It is a well known fact that the human body stays healthiest when it moves, but the daily reality for many people is that their job or lifestyle, involves long periods of inactivity. How many of us spend significant periods of our day in front of a computer, commuting to work, or watching TV? I’m guessing the answer is lots!

There is plenty of data being shared currently about the effects of a largely sedentary lifestyle – link to one such current article. Some are even going so far as to claim our reducing activity levels are more damaging to our health than smoking. Click the yellow button to go to a very cool fitness calculator created by the Cardiac Action Research Group in Norway.

How Fit are You?

Inactivity is the Enemy

If we keep our focus on the effects of inactivity on muscle strength and tone, we can see that the less we move, the weaker we are. The natural effect on our back health then is that our muscles no longer properly support our backs and we move out of correct postural alignment which moves us into a downward spiral that inevitably leads to back pain and dysfunction. Not a good thing! The better news is that while muscles quickly lose strength through inactivity, they also quickly gain strength if you start using them again. The trick with using this regenerative ability to regain back health is to start strengthening with correct posture.  A posture corrector may be helpful here.

If your back hurts due to your daily lifestyle, your muscular system will have learnt some very bad habits – this is called muscle memory and you are going to have to reprogramme it over time. This is where posture corrector devices can be useful – they can provide the support necessary to realign your back while the healing takes place. Our preference is always for products that allow you to move, or which remind you to self-correct your own posture (see  our best posture corrector reviews). Our two current favourite products that promote movement are the Lumo Lift and the BackJoy.

Lumo Lift		BackJoy
	Read Review		Read Review
	Buy Here		Buy Here

2. What about injuries?

By “injury” we mean a single damaging event that suddenly leaves you with chronic back pain. For example, maybe lifting something, or a fall. (We could also easily argue that a combination of poor posture and a sedentary lifestyle will, sooner or later, leave you injured!)

In the case of a traumatic back injury it is vital that you consult a qualified health professional. Period. Once you have been assessed, various treatments will offered, and hopefully, over time will start you on the road to recovery. Once the initial damage has healed, it is time to work towards improving your posture, muscle tone, and flexibility so that you are less likely to be injured again in the future. This is the time that back “braces” as opposed to posture “correctors” may have some real value. The best of them both encourage better posture and provide support while your body heals. A couple of the best for lower back injuries that we have reviewed are the Mueller and the Double Pull Lower Back Brace. These relatively simple products are inexpensive and well worth a look if you need some support.

Mueller Brace		Double Pull Brace
	Read Review		Read Review
	Buy Here		Buy Here

3. Prevention versus recovery?

This is the area that we are most passionate about – it is always better / easier /smarter to prevent back damage rather than to try and fix it after the event. So once again, we look  to muscle tone, flexibility, and correct posture as the key components of a healthy back.

There are many researchers currently looking at ways to improve these factors through lifestyle changes. One set of recommendations that has gained a lot of attention over the last few years is NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). Developed by Dr John Levine from the Mayo Clinic, NEAT research shows that people can improve their overall health (including back health) through some small, achievable daily actions.

Here is an easy to read caution about the reality of sedentary lifestyles by Chris Kresser (a well known health blogger). There are a handful of new, innovative products that use cutting edge technology to act as posture correctors before the damage is done. The one that we rate very highly is the LUMO Lift. It uses electronics to train you into a better posture over time.

4. Can a back brace hurt you?

This is a question that seems to crop up from time to time. Firstly, we at PostureSorted believe that a healthy back is an active back. If a posture corrector or back brace restricts your movement too much, then yes, we believe it may hurt your back health by 1) reducing your flexibility, and 2) leading to reduced muscle tone.

When we review a particular product, we take into account the degree of restriction versus the support offered, and if the balance seems wrong, we will say so. Some more “restrictive” braces are still useful if you make sure that you limit the amount of time you wear it. An example would be having to return to work, but still needing healing to occur.

Leave us a comment or a question below as we want this posture corrector site to be as useful as possible and your experiences are what we need to hear. Dave