Posture is a Window Into Your Spinal Health & Wellbeing
Last updated on September 28, 2023
A Nobel prize winner, Roger Sperry (Ph.D.) discovered that 90% of the brain’s activity is used to balance your body within the gravitational field of earth. Therefore, if your body is mechanically distorted (out of place), it will affect the other 10% of the brain’s activity, which actually controls all the other body functions such as breathing, digestion and cognition.Â
If there is misalignment in the spine it can interfere with your nervous system, which can lead to symptoms or chronic health illness/conditions.Â
When the body is restored back to normal and healthy, it enters a healing cycle that alleviates pain and symptoms, improves immunity, increases blood and oxygen circulation, improves nervous system communication, therefore optimizing the body’s overall health and performance.
Having a head tilt (as pictured above) indicates there are imbalances in the body, therefore the brain stem is compressed, restricting the flow of communication between the brain and body. This can result in impacting healing messages to different parts of the body where nerves go to, as these nerves are getting irritated. Diminished and impaired function and pain can occur. This can decrease your quality of life when the body is imbalanced. If there is no stress or tension on the brain stem, it allows communication between the brain and body (like a highway of communication happening in your spine), promoting maximum health and healing. Physical therapy can be an effective solution to address these imbalances, as it can help correct postural and muscular imbalances that contribute to the head tilt.
Unfortunately, it is quite common to see a lot of people have somewhat of a reduced cervical (neck) curve or it’s completely lost. See diagram below. This most commonly occurs due to life stressors and activities in our daily life.
Overtime, if this is not corrected or maintained, it will progress further and cause problems and tension in the body.Â
The dangers of forward head posture, the loss of a cervical curve causes an imbalance in the body, as the head protrudes forward shifting the body’s centre of gravity. Therefore, the upper body hunches over and hips can tilt forward.
Can Forward Head Posture Cause Pain?
Forward head posture, not only can cause neck pain but also these common signs and symptoms;Â
- HeadachesÂ
- TMJ painÂ
- Mid and lower back painÂ
- Postural distortion (loss of overall height)Â
- Muscle tension/tightnessÂ
- Restricted movementÂ
- Pain with movementÂ
- Increased fatigue/low energyÂ
- Loss of balanceÂ
- Dizziness/VertigoÂ
What Causes Forward Head Posture?
Forward head posture can be caused either by a macrotrauma like motor vehicle accidents (whiplash), severe falls, and/or months to years of posture neglect caused by work environment (sitting at a desk for a long period of time, repetitive lifting, heavy lifting), daily activities, bad habits, poor diet or emotional stressors.
Your posture is a small window to the spine. Poor posture, including forward head carriage correlates to distortions in the spinal alignment. Misalignment in the spine is one of the indications of subluxation, a condition in which only chiropractors are trained to treat.
How Can I Fix Forward Head Posture & Posture Distortions?
The most important factor in avoiding and correcting poor posture and forward head carriage is through education and awareness. The chiropractors will go through a thorough examination to see if we can help through chiropractic adjustments, specific corrective exercises and educating to identify what is causing these postural distortions outside of the office as well, to help improve your health and overall wellbeing.
Source: The Chiropractic Resource OrganisationÂ
Roger Sperry, Ph.D. (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1981)
This information does not substitute a consultation outlining your health and wellbeing. Please seek advise tailored to you by a professional.Â
