Have a Posterior Pelvic Tilt? How to Bring Back Good Posture

Here’s a simple exercise. Try standing straight sideways in front of a mirror and look closely at your posture. Is your body correctly aligned in standing position? Does it lean forward or backward? Now, look at your lower back, particularly the pelvic area. Does the pelvis stay in a neutral position, or does it tilt forward or backward? If your pelvis tilts backwards, this is known as posterior pelvic tilt. This may affect your posture, balance, and muscles.

What is Pelvic Tilting?

In the above exercise, we tried to observe our posture by seeing how our pelvis holds or tilts whenever we stand up. Good posture means properly keeping the curves of the spine, including the lower part of the back where the pelvis is located. A straight or “neutral” pelvic position helps maintain the proper functioning of our muscles.

In some cases, excessive pelvic tilting may either involve the pelvis tilting forward – known as anterior pelvic tilting; or backward – known as posterior pelvic tilting.

Pelvic tilting is normal but excessive tilting can bring long-term problems to the spine and to our posture.

Posterior Pelvic Tilting

Pelvic tilting positions may also be done during exercises, wherein they are used to strengthen one’s lumbar stability. They may be done to provide support to parts of the abdomen, lower back, and pelvis and pelvic joints.

However, spine and posture problems involving the pelvis can occur if such tilting is excessive.

Posterior pelvic tilt occurs when you slouch. The pelvis positions itself backwards, with the front hips going upward and backwards and the tailbone going lower on your body. This condition may result in having a flat back or spine and lessened lumbar lordosis (hypolordosis). When you have a flat back, you also have a tendency to lean forwards, causing strain in your neck and upper back.

A posterior tilt gives you poor posture. In addition, a posteriorly tilted pelvis may lead to unsteady balance, lower back pain, weakened muscles in the leg, and contracted pelvic tendons.

Causes of Posterior Pelvic Tilting

Various researches and expert analysis shows that posterior pelvic tilting may be caused by any of the following:

• Slacking or slouched sitting position. The most common cause of posterior pelvic tilting is poor sitting position. This may affect the curves of the spine, applying force on other areas of the body which may lead to weakened hips and back muscles, and tight hamstrings and abdominal muscles.
• Tight hamstrings. Hamstrings are muscles that can be found on the posterior part of the thigh. Lack of physical activity and prolonged sitting may contribute to the tightening of the hamstrings.
• Exercise routine. Focusing on exercising the muscles on the abdomen, buttocks and hamstrings may also lead to a posterior pelvic tilt.
• Poor standing position. Improper standing posture may also lead to a posterior-tilted pelvis, particularly when you have a rounded lower back and hunch your shoulders.
• Excessive carrying of heavy objects. This happens when you carry heavy objects for a significant amount of time to the point of having a distorted back and contracted abdominal muscles.
• Sleeping issues. This can either be through a sleeping position or a quality of mattress that affects or distorts the curve of the spine.

Correcting Your Posture

There are various ways to correct a posteriorly tilted pelvis. Therapists may recommend a combination of strengthening some parts of your body while addressing other issues that may contribute to an excessively tilted pelvis.

Here are some of the ways to correct the position of the pelvis:

• Exercise. Exercise routines should focus on stretching the muscles of the stomach and abs, as well as the hamstrings. Strengthening the middle and lower part of the back and spine, as well as muscles of the hips, should also be the focus in these exercises.
• Addressing sitting problems. Some solutions to address the pelvic tilt in sitting position may include adjusting and aligning the cushions on your seat. It may also help to provide back, foot and arm support. However, you may simply make some sitting adjustments such as avoiding slouching and slacking positions when sitting, and supporting the curve on your lower back using various back support objects such as pillows.
• Addressing standing problems. If you feel or observe that there’s something wrong with your standing posture, always remember to stand up straight and keep your head level. Avoid shoulder hunching and keep your shoulders in a normal resting position. You must also keep your stomach in as you stand.

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