FORWARD HEAD POSTURE HEALTH CRISIS?

HEAD FORWARD POSTURE CAN LEAD TO DECREASED HEALTH.

According to Kapandji (Physiology of the Joints, Volume III), for every inch your head moves forwards, it gains 10 pounds in weight, so they have to work that much harder to keep your head (chin) from dropping onto your chest.   This is going to make you TIRED. Really TIRED. Maybe even irritable.

This forward head tilt… forces the muscles in your neck to remain in constant contraction, putting pressure on the delicate nerves in your neck.   This nerve compression may cause headaches at the base of your SKULL. Pressure on the nerves can also mimic sinus (frontal) headaches.

Rene Cailliet M.D., states: “Head in forward posture can add up to thirty pounds of abnormal leverage on the cervical (neck area) spine. This can pull the entire spine out of alignment. Forward head posture (FHP) may result in the loss of 30% of vital lung capacity which means you’re not going to bring every well.

This is primarily due to the LOSS of the curve in your neck, which blocks the action of the muscles, especially the muscles responsible for helping lift the first rib during inhalation.” This is not a good thing as oxygen is something your body “cannot live” without.

Persistent forward head posture (a.k.a “hyperkyphotic posture”) puts compression upon the upper back (thoracic vertebra), and is also associated with the development of the Hump, which can evolve into compression fractures (anterior wedging).   A recent study found this was associated with a 1.44 greater rate of mortality.

It's not uncommon to find a 2" forward head placement in patients.   That would be like having a 20-pound watermelon hanging around your neck. If you don’t take care of it, you get worse. Regular chiropractic CAN correct this. Our specialty is in reversing “joint problems” (what we refer to as “subluxations”) and in re-invigorating the muscles that normally hold your head.