A bad posture is never sexy.

But long hours spent hunched over the desk to meet that deadline, or crouching over mobile devices to scroll through online ‘zines, shopping sites and Instagram, may leave you with tight shoulder, neck and back muscles.

Even that gym or circuit session where you (purposely) forgot to stretch, could leave you with knotted muscles and joints that are out of line, leading to a lousy posture.

I have very tight shoulders, and sometimes get a stabbing pain in my arms. My posture could be better too. I spend long hours with my arms scrunched and tensed infront of my laptop at work; love to plank, and hate to stretch.

At the new Orchard Health Lifestyle (L4 Tangs, Tang Plaza, Orchard Road), an offshoot of the osteopathic Orchard Health Clinic, I tried its 30-minute Joint Centralisation Technique (JCT) on my upper body.

While the therapists at Orchard Health Lifestyle are not osteopaths, they are trained in the JCT which aims to align the joints, with gentle twisting of the body, and deep tissue massage.

Kwan, the therapist who treated me, had strong but firm moves. He got to the right spots to soothe the tension; such as the areas in between my shoulder blades, and next to my arm pits.

Just after one session; he helped to relieve the tension in my neck, shoulders, and arms by 50 per cent.  I also felt like I stood taller, my arm movements got smoother and upper body muscles were less hard and tense. My triceps and shoulders felt sore the next day, but Kwan had already told me that is to be expected.

A few sessions and a change in my lifestyle habits (such as the way I stretch, sit, etc.) are necessary for a more complete correction.

If possible, get a full body JCT per session. As Kwan informs me, issues in the lower half of the body may have caused the problems in the upper half; and vice versa.

Orchard Health Lifestyle is not the place if you have serious sport injuries that need proper medical and osteopathic care.

But if all you need is quick and instant relief from aching muscles, and to increasingly improve your posture; we would recommend sessions there.

A JCT Upper or Lower Body starts from $65 for 30 minutes.