Forward Posture

Forward posture occurs when a person’s head extends over their body, protruding from the neck and out of line with the rest of the body. If you notice that you have a forward head posture when resting, this means that your skull rests forwards of the first vertebrae in your neck and back. This poor posture may also coincide with other elements of poor posture, such as hyperextension in the spine and elevated shoulders.

This posture is incredibly common in the population, with many causes related to modern life and technology, more of which will be explained below. However, because it is so common, it can be difficult to distinguish whether you have the condition or whether your posture is correct. Luckily, there are many tests that individuals can perform at home to check whether they have poor posture. These include standing with your back up against a wall; if your head is able to rest against the wall at the same time, you do not have forward posture. However, if you are unable to lean your head against the wall in its resting position, then it is likely that you have forward posture and that you need to take action to change your resting posture.

You may also know if you have forward posture from symptoms shown by your body. Due to the incorrect alignment shown in those with forward posture, it is likely that those suffering will have upper back and neck pain due to the extended vertebrae in the spine. You may also find that you are more susceptible to muscle stiffness, have decreased motion in the area, and that you get more facial and shoulder pain while you are experiencing the condition.

Forward posture can be caused by a great many environmental factors, but the greatest of these is through our modern lifestyles and the appliances that we use on a daily basis. This is shown through the nicknames that are given to forward posture, which include “Scholar’s Neck” and “Text Neck”. Both of these show the correlation between activities such as reading, texting and using computers with the condition. However, any activity wherein the participant has to lean over an object or study an item is likely to cause forward posture if conducted on a regular basis.

Other causes of forward posture include factors such as carrying weights on your back such as a heavy rucksack, driving for long periods of time, holding job roles which include typing, using your hands or the computer, and sleeping with your head elevated too high on pillows or other rests.

Although doctors can provide advice on the best forms of treatment to consider, it is possible to treat forward posture by yourself, or by deciding to seek out an alternative form of medical treatment. There are many exercises available that can help you to combat the negative effects of forward posture, which include the SCM self-massage, where you find the SCM in your neck and rub the side of your neck in a gentle v pattern.

You can also stretch your neck muscles through the Chin Tuck exercise, where you place your fingers at the bottom of your chin and push down to tuck your chin in, while retracting your head. These exercises can strengthen your muscles and provide some relief for the pain that poor posture causes. If these do not aid you, you should consider seeking alternative treatments that we provide here at Icon Medical Centre.

Here at Icon Medical, our alternative care and pain management techniques, such as chiropractic care, pain management, and physical therapy, can treat a wide range of conditions, including poor posture caused by conditions such as “Scholar’s” or “Text Neck”. During the hands-on techniques provided by our care and adapted for your individual posture complaint, our methods can help by providing relief from neck and back pain through a reduction of stress and tension on the nervous system.

As well as reduce the pain that you are experiencing through massage and medicine, Icon Medical ensures that the neck and spine are aligned correctly through chiropractic care, which corrects your posture in the long term, and allows you to gain relief from the pain of poor posture.