Does getting ahead in the world shorten your life?

Do you rush along the pavement with your head thrust forward in an attempt to get to your destination quicker? Do you lean forward into your computer screen or newspaper to see it better? Do you sit watching tv or drive with your neck leaning further forward then your shoulders?

If these situations sound familiar than I would place a bet that you suffer from tension headaches and aches in your neck and across the back of your shoulders.

Why is this posture so bad for you? And how, as my title suggests, might it even contribute to shortening your life?

Spines are meant to be curvy and, as your neck is the top section of your spine, it should have a gentle curve rather like this bracket: “)”. But when, as many people do, you walk around with your head thrust forward, your neck straightens out to resemble this forward slash: “/”. Chiropractically trained physicians like myself and my colleagues call this position forward head posture or hyperkyphotic posture.

A normal curve in the neck gives you the flexibility to move and the strength to support your head. In fact, a reduced neck curve can result in a 50 per cent reduction in the strength of the spine. As far as the muscles in your upper back and neck are concerned, for every inch your head moves forwards, your head gains 10 pounds in weight. That’s a lot!

With forward head posture, your upper back and neck muscles have to work harder to keep your chin from dropping forwards onto your chest. This forces the muscles that raise the chin to remain in constant contraction, putting pressure on the nerves just underneath the base of your skull. This can cause very painful headaches.

Studies (1) have shown that forward head posture is associated with chronic tension type headaches and the greater the degree the head is thrust forward the longer headaches last and the more frequently they are experienced.
A further consequence of forward head posture is that the muscles are forced to work hard to keep the eyes horizontal and to keep the mouth closed.

Researchers (2) have found that this can lead to excessive dry mouth due to mouth breathing, swallowing problems, headaches, teeth clenching, pain in the face and tightness in the throat. A further study (3) linked forward head posture with a range of jaw problems.

Forward head posture restricts the movement of the spine and eventually this can causes stiffness and damage to the joints. An avalanche of problems can follow. The shoulders roll forwards and squash your collar bones inwards: this causes your chest muscles to tighten up and your shoulder blades stick out which in turn places pressure on the nerves and arteries around the base of your neck and upper shoulders. You can also get an impingement of the nerve under the tip of the collar bone

Persistent forward head posture puts great pressure on the vertebrae in your upper back and can lead to the development of compression fractures and a dowager hump. You may have seen elderly people who are permanently bent over looking at the floor due to such deterioration of the spine. I frequently see the beginnings of forward head posture in my teenage patients and I work hard to get them to adopt a better posture and help avoid such a future.
Most concerning of all, a study (4) by the Department of Medicine at the University of California on over 1,300 osteoporosis patients showed that those people with forward head posture had a 1.44 greater mortality rate than other patients. Forward head posture was specifically associated with an increased rate of death due to hardening and narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis).

So how can you help avoid these problems and adopt a better posture for your neck and head? Think of a plumb line running from your ear to the middle of your shoulder. You may find that you have to move your head position backwards. Do not tilt your head up, keep your chin slightly down and your shoulders relaxed. It’s simple but requires practise until it stops feeling a bit strange and becomes your natural, comfortable posture.
It might be worth considering why you have begun to thrust your head forwards if this is a new development. Is it just a poor postural habit, an underlying injury or do you need glasses? Remember that chiropractically trained specialists will be able to give you a full postural and spinal health assessment, treat problems due to misalignment and teach you exercises to strengthen your spine and maintain good posture. our website has these exercises in video format and I recommend as many people as possible do them to help prevent problems for the future.

http://www.spinalcarecentre.co.uk/pages/members/ReliefPhase.html
1. Fernández-de-las-Peñas, C.; Alon- so-Blanco, C.; Luz Cuadrado, M.; Ger- win, R.D. & Pareja, J.A. (2006).Trigger Points in the Suboccipital Muscles and Forward Head Posture in Tension-Type Headache. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 46 (3): 454—460.
2. Porterfield, J.A. & DeRosa, C. (1995) Mechanical Neck Pain. Perspectives in Functional Anatomy. Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders Co.
3. Lee, W.Y.; Okeson, J.P. & Lindroth, J. (1995) The Relationship Between For- ward Head Posture and Temporomandibular Disorders. Journal of Orofacial Pain, 9 (2): 161—167.
4. Kado, D.M.; Huang, M.H.; Karlamangla, A.S.; Barrett-Connor, .E & Greendale, G.A. (2004). Hyperkyphotic Posture Predicts Mortality in Older Community dwelling Men and Women: A Prospective Study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 52 (10): 1662—1667.