The Weight of Your Head

It’s not uncommon to have clients walk into my office sporting a 12 pound head that’s held three inches forward off their shoulders. You know they are fighting a losing battle attempting to hold up 42 pounds against the unrelenting force of gravity.

Some effects of forward head posture (FHP) as written by Rnen Cailliet M.D. are as follows:

FHP can put the entire spine out of alignment. When the head is in a forward posture can add up to 30 pounds of abnormal leverage on the cervical spine.
FHP may result in the loss of 30% of vital lung capacity. These breath-related effects are primarily due to the loss of the cervical lordosis (When your spine in your neck doesn’t curve as it should) which blocks the action of the hyoid muscles, which are responsible for helping lift the first rib during inhalation. Proper rib lifting action by the hyoids and anterior scalenes is essential to completely fill our lungs

FHP could result in a sluggish bowel. The entire gastrointestinal system (particularly the large intestine) may become agitated from FHP resulting in sluggish bowel peristaltic function and evacuation.
Head alignment is vital to help align the entire body. Most attempts to correct posture are directed toward the spine, shoulders and pelvis. All are IMPORTANT, but, head position takes precedence over all others. The body follows the head. Therefore, the entire body is best aligned by first restoring proper functional alignment to the head.

The neck is burdened with the challenging task of supporting and moving the human head. Since tension, trauma and poor postural habits are inherent in today’s workplace, it comes as no surprise that head-on-neck and neck-on-thorax disorders rank high among the most common pain generators driving people into massage and similar bodywork practices. When the spine and neck are exposed to continued compression, they deform and go through a transformation that can become permanent. Correction of bad neck posture is key to stopping and reversing degenerative joint disease and pain from headaches, rib dysfunction, TMJ, and Dowager’s Humps.

English philosopher Bertrand Russell once stated, “A physical system expresses its energy through function”. Any loss of function can set off many reactions within the body’s dynamic system which often manifests as structural abnormalities and vice-versa. When treating functional problems such as loss of joint play, we, as your massage therapists, must look beyond the symptoms and treat the whole body.

Courtesy of Erik Dalton, Certified Myoskeletal Therapist, http://www.freedomfrompain.com