Humans are uniquely adapted to standing and walking upright while continuously looking forward. Pairing binocular vision with extraordinary dexterity has given us some distinct advantages, but we were never designed to spend most of our time looking downwards. Were that the case, our spines would be built much differently.
Our heads weigh, on average, ten to eleven pounds. That’s about 2 pounds heavier than the typical bowling ball. Our anatomy is at its best when our heads sit squarely atop our spines. A mechanical engineer would refer to this as our “zero axis”. As we move our heads forward of this ideal position/zero axis, we increase the strain upon the spine, and that strain must be accommodated. It’s simple physics.
We may begin our day with good intentions of maintaining ideal posture, but as the hours pass, we find ourselves increasingly “head forward”. As the months and years of head forward posture accumulate, so does the damage it causes. One of the most obvious signs of this damage is the unsightly “hump”, or kyphosis, that develops at the junction of the cervical and thoracic spines. Osteoporosis contributes to it, but plenty of people with normal bone density have this same deformity from years of simple bad posture.
Bad posture is the number one cause of non-traumatic spine pain, and here are simple steps to take to prevent it:
1. “Cheek bone over collar bone over hip bone over ankle bone” is the mantra for ideal alignment. Using a side view mirror, assess how close you come to this zero-axis posture.
2. Try balancing a book atop your head and walking (the same old fashioned 1950’s maneuver girls were taught in gym class). It’s nearly impossible to do this with poor posture.
3. Back up against a wall. Do you simultaneously have contact between the wall and the back of your head, your shoulder blades, and your buttocks?
4. Use the Marine Corps “parade rest” position to realign yourself throughout the day. Set the timer on your phone to ring several times a day. When it rings, stand in “parade rest” for a postural reset.
Exercises to strengthen the back and stretch the chest muscles are easy to do. If you have trouble mastering them on your own, a few sessions of physical therapy will help. Posture tape also works very well. Check out americanpostureinstitute.com for a step-by- step guide to taping. A posture brace can also help, particularly if your support muscles fatigue before the workday is done.
Once boney kyphosis has set in, it’s very difficult to correct, but progression can be slowed. If you find that you already have pain from kyphosis, we can treat it directly and effectively. Take time to assess yourself. We are here to help.