Vision Affects Posture
Did you know posture issues can be related to your eyesight?
The role of vision in relation to the Posture System is spatial orientation and maintaining posture and balance. Visual sensation is a critical source of information that specifies spatial orientation in the environment (Wade & Jones, 1997).
Since humans adopted a bipedal upright stance, they have been challenged to maintain an unstable equilibrium of the body with a high location of the body centre of gravity over a small base of support (Duarte, 2002). With dysfunction of the visual system, this task becomes considerably more difficult.
The visual system is one of the sensory systems enabling the body to assess and process information about the external environment. In the absence of vision, a blind person loses contact with the outside world and develops faulty motor patterns, which results in postural deficiencies (Alotaibi et al., 2016). Researchers suggest that blind patients, or patients with significant visual deficits should participate in posture and gait rehabilitation programs to improve their balance and motor output patterns.
If you are having vision issues and feel unsteady on your feet, NewBody specialises in balance rehabilitation programs that will help improve neuromuscular control.
References:
Alotaibi, A. et al. (2016) Effect of absence of vision on posture. J Phys Ther Sci., 28(4) p. 1374-7.
Duarte, M. et al. (2002) Effects of body lean and visual information on the equilibrium maintenance during stance. Exp Brain Res, 146 p. 60–69.
Wade, M. & Jones, G. (1997) The role of vision and spatial orientation in the maintenance of posture. Physical Therapy, 77(6) p. 619-628.