For every inch your head posture sits forward, the head gains 4.5kgs in weight, forcing the muscles in your upper back and neck to work much harder.
Think about how uncomfortable it would be to hang a bowling ball around your neck. Well this is exactly what your body might be experiencing every day if you suffer from Forward Head Posture (FHP).
For every inch your head posture sits forward, the head gains 4.5kgs in weight. This forces the muscles in your upper back and neck to work much harder to keep the head (chin) from dropping onto your chest. With your muscles in constant contraction to achieve this, pressure is added to the nerves at the base of the skull, which can cause headaches.
This small amount of FHP causes increases in the contraction of your neck muscles by 50%, as they strain to hold your head upright against the forces of gravity.
Over time, your neck joints are continually compressed. Many of your neck muscles tighten up, whilst others weaken due to disuse.
Because of the increased compressive forces through the neck joints and increased muscle tension, pain is the common outcome. Some of the types of problems associated with FHP are:
- Headaches
- Neck and/or mid back discomfort
- Muscle tension in the neck and shoulders
- Chest pain
- Pain, pins & needles and numbness in the arms and hands
Awareness of the correct neck and shoulder posture is the first step toward correction. Chiropractic adjustments address the subluxations, assisting in restoring proper motion and balancing the muscles that normally retract the head. Then correcting poor neck posture through exercises, which are designed to help gain control over postural neck muscles, which have become weak and fatigued over time. Left uncorrected, FHP will continue to decline. Many people develop chronic or recurrent problems because they receive treatment for the pain (eg. pain-killers or AI’s) but don’t address the underlying cause, which is their FHP.
