Q. What does it mean to say there are sensors that detect posture?

To hold posture upright, the body sends position information to the brain from several places. At Dangdang we call these postural sensors, and we look at six of them.

• Eyes — the retina and the eye muscles take in the relation between your own position and the surroundings. Imbalance in the eye muscles sometimes leads on to a problem with posture
• Ears — posture is set against the axis of gravity. The inner ear in particular coordinates the movement of eyes and head during motion
• Jaw joint — complements the rotational information from the eyes and head. If the bite of the teeth is off, it can lead on to deformity in the neck vertebrae
• Feet — the sole responds sensitively even to slight changes in pressure. The arch of the foot plays a central part in controlling posture, making it the most common starting point for postural imbalance
• Joints — the 7th cervical vertebra, the 12th thoracic vertebra, the lower lumbar spine and the ankle joint tell the brain where each part sits in space
• Skin — scars can affect the tension of posture and so pass on abnormal information

When these sensors send different signals left and right, the brain creates asymmetric tension to match. So before correcting, we check which sensor is sending the signal that is off.