Neck & Back Pain Help
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The Forward Head
A "forward head" is the source of much neck and shoulder pain. The neck should be on a straight vertical line. Many people let their head and neck tilt forward. This is called a "Forward Head."
Many people are too tight in the upper chest and shoulders
to stand properly. The forward head (left) commonly results in sore
shoulder, neck, and upper back.
A forward head can eventually damage neck and upper back structures, as they bend and rub at angles they were not built for. Chronically holding neck muscles in an overstretched position weakens them. The forward head creates shortened, contracted muscles in front, and a stretched, weakened back. Cervical (neck) discs are pressured posteriorly. This creates a cycle of forward positioning that herniates discs and makes sore aching muscles, and the tightness and habits that keep you tilting forward. The result is that the average person has upper body pain from the poor positioning and at the same time, the chronic poor positioning makes them too tight to stand up straight.
Many people do most of their standing, sitting, activity, and exercise with a forward head. No wonder they have pain. Look in any fitness magazine and see all the photos of people doing exercise with their neck tilted forward and chin jutting forward. Look at how people eat. Look at how they carry backpacks and bags - hunching forward against the load instead of using muscles to hold their spine in healthy position. Then they do shoulder stands in yoga, which simultaneously overstretch the ligament, pressure discs outward, and create forces that generate bone spurs. The average person overstretches and unequally stretches their neck and upper body so much, that it is amazing they dont hurt more.
Muscular Pain from The Forward Head
Poor standing and sitting ergonomics are a common cause of numb shoulder, upper back pain, and headache. It makes a classic "tension" pain across the shoulders, in a diamond pattern down the middle of the upper back, in the neck, up the neck to the head, and sometimes down the arm. Forward head is a common source of headache. Yet, after mechanically pressuring their neck all day, people call it stress and do not fix the very forward posture that would give them relief and stop the injury process.
Also keep in mind, that if you sit in a slumped position at the low back, your head and neck are automatically put in a forward head position.
Surprising Source of Shoulder Pain
The forward head is a surprising hidden source of shoulder pain and impingement. With the head held forward, it rotates the upper shoulder forward (round shouldered) which gets in the way of normal motion when you raise your arm. The upper arm bone squashes the soft structures of the shoulder capsule against the shoulder bone (where the scapula meets the clavicle). This can cause pain, squashing (impingement) and rotator cuff injury. How often does this happen? Every time you wash and comb your hair, pull off a shirt, put away groceries, scratch your head, brush your teeth, and reach for anything - in short, a forward head can cause shoulder and upper back and neck pain many dozens of times a day. The injury adds up over time.
