As the ultra skinny aesthetic is becoming ‘popular’ again, it’s important to know what some of these body image habits may be doing to us long term!

So many of us have felt pressure from a young age to appear thinner, & sucking in our stomach was an “easy” way to make our stomach look flatter.

This motor pattern can become so ingrained in our bodies that we do it all day long without thinking (I catch myself accidentally doing it still!) We’ve become conditioned to constantly be aware of what OTHER people may be seeing instead of focusing on how WE FEEL in our bodies.

This chronic sucking in of our stomach increases the pressure within our abdominal cavity, negatively impacting the function of our breathing, our GI system, & our pelvic floor.

It can make it harder for our muscles to relax, for our lungs to fully fill & expand, & for food & stool to move through our digestive tract.

*This sucking in is different from activating & drawing in the deep core for support & stability which does not use the lungs or alter abdominal pressure*

In the short term, this sucking in for appearance can temporarily give you a rib flare until you relax & exhale, or over time your body can adapt to this posture & the rib flare may remain present even after you ‘relax’ your abdomen.

This just means from a PT perspective that we have a little more work & need a little more time to undo & correct the postural adaptations your body created.

Other reasons we may find a rib flare:

🤰Pregnancy

🤱 Postpartum

🦴 Joint stiffness & lack of mobility

🔄 Excessive anterior pelvic tilt

🙅‍♀️ Core weakness

The good news is pelvic PT can help with any & all of these reasons!