Often when the four examinations are done on my new patients, the report to them includes these words, “your head is not on straight”. After a few chuckles about what that means, the patient realizes how much trouble such a phenomenon causes.
What we know in the chiropractic profession is that it is of extreme importance that the position of the cervical spine [neck area] allow for the head to sit back atop of the shoulders. Due to the effects of gravity, poor posture, weight of the head [8-10lbs] or past traumas, the skull and neck can become misaligned leading to something called ‘forward head” syndrome. This means the forward displacement of the head where the chin is out in front of the shoulders and chest. Such a syndrome causes pathological tension on the spinal cord and brain stem.
Rene Caillet , MD, director of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Southern California , wrote about the effects of forward head syndrome in his book Rejuvenation Strategy.
- Incorrect head positioning leads to improper spinal function which negatively affects how your nerves send their messages.
- The head in forward position can add up to 30 pounds of abnormal leverage on the neck area or cervical spine.
- Forward head syndrome results in loss of vital lung capacity.
- The entire gastrointestinal system is affected by forward head posture particularly the large intestine.
- Increased discomfort and pain is one result of forward head syndrome and it can cause the nerves in the lower neck which travel across the shoulders, down the arms to the finger tips, to become irritated, disturbed, tingling and numb.
- Forward head syndrome causes loss of healthy spine body motion as the entire body becomes rigid and humped.
If you feel this may be a problem for you or anyone else you know ,see a chiropractor immediately .They are specialists of spinal structure and function .
