Does Your Head Feel Like a Watermelon
on Your Shoulders??

If you answered "yes!" to this question then you probably have Forward Head Posture (FHP). FHP occurs when you hang your head forward. Ideally, your head should sit on top of your neck, so that if you were to drop a line down from your ear, it would line up with the middle of your shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle. But because of our society, we flex forward too much texting on our phones, typing on our laptops, working all day at a computer, driving our cars, and watching TV on the couch. As your head leans more and more forward, the body compensates by flexing the upper body even more, and over time this position becomes permanent.

Did you know that the human head weighs 8-10 pounds and for every inch that the head leans forward, it gains 10-12 pounds in weight due to leverage! So now the ligaments and muscles have tightened because they have been working so hard to pull your big head back up but they aren't strong enough, so they go into spasm causing headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and irritability.

This tightening also straightens the spine, so now you have lost the natural spring-like action of the spinal curves that absorb the shock that we endure every day. So now the joints are jamming and there is more pressure on the discs between your vertebra and on the vertebral joints. Over time, this increased pressure starts to squish the discs and buckle the joints, so the body starts to lay down bone to support the area and these are called bone spurs or degeneration or arthritis in your joints and discs.

In addition to causing musculoskeletal pain and arthritis, FHP can result in the loss of 30% of vital lung capacity because that heavy head is pulling the spine out of alignment. With the loss of the cervical curve, the hyoid muscles in your neck are inhibited and the first rib can't be lifted during inhalation, causing loss of lung capacity.

Also, FHP can lead to "dowager's hump" or hyperkyphotic posture that is often seen on elderly people and this is due to the compressive load of the head hanging forward on the thoracic or middle spine. This can lead to compression fractures and John Hopkins University found that hyperkyphotic posture is associated with a shortened life span!

So would you be surprised that your neck and shoulder hurt if you had a 20-pound watermelon hanging on your neck? So if the above reasons don't motivate you to fix FHP, maybe these will: tension headaches, dizziness, TMJ problems, persistent asthma, increased blood pressure, osteoarthritis, vision problems caused by eye strain from having to look straight ahead when the head is pushed down and forward, pinched nerves, poor balance, and compromised body systems that rely on the proper functioning of the sympathetic nervous system, such as the endocrine, immune, and digestive systems.

So these are the symptoms that can happen to you with uncorrected FHP and if it is left uncorrected it can continue to decline into worse degeneration of your spine. But there is hope! Chiropractic care is very beneficial for restoring the proper spinal alignment and curvature so that we can stop further degeneration. Please call Dr. Katy and Isaac Mooberry at Get Moving Chiropractic if you have any questions. (303) 670-7777 or www.evergreenchiropractor.com

By Dr. Katy Mooberry DC