Orem Chiropractor explains Forward Head Posture

There are several standard exam elements in every chiropractic exam in my office. There are the vitals, the range of motion, the strength evaluations, the neurological tests. And, of course, there is the palpatory exam where I actually put my hands on the spine so I can see through the eyes that I have apparently managed to grow in my fingers (I am humbled and my patients are often amazed by the ability I have to find problems with the simple touch). And, sometimes, I have to get x-rays if the case indicates that is needed. But the one element of the exam that we all have the ability to do ourselves every day is the postural evaluation.

In his recent blog post, Orem Chiropractor, Dr. Ned Arthur does a great job describing a very common postural abnormality that we refer to as forward head posture. He even has a experiment for his readers to try to illustrate the effects of forward head posture.  I would like to share two common experiments that I use with those using Orem Chiropractic services from Dr. Ned...

The first one is to have the patient hold a pencil straight up in his fisted hand and put the weight of my hand on the up eraser end and remind the person that their head weight 10 to 13 pounds on average.  Then I have the person tilt the pencil forward slightly and put my hand back on the eraser and this demonstrates how little forward shift dramatically increases the load on the neck and shoulders.

Then, I ask the person to "point" his chin or tilt his head slightly forward (thereby exagerating the forward head position)  and have the person put his fingers lightly on the muscles in the back of his own neck just to the sides of the central bony spiny prominences from his neck bones. Then I ask the person to "slide" his head directly backward until his head is well back over his shoulders and have him feel those same muscles and how much less work they are doing and how much more relaxed they are.

Be sure to go read Dr. Arthur's write-up on forward head posture.  You will learn a lot about why this is such a bad situation and why we really should be doing something about it now, rather than waiting for the wraning lights to go off.


Edward Harriott, DC
Mission Viejo Chiropractic
24896 Chrisanta Dr. #120
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
(949)360-1112
http://www.mvchiro.com

If you want to reach more from Dr. Arthur's Orem Chiropractor blog, fee free to visit it. If you need a chiropractor in Orem, UT, you can find him at:

Ned McArthur

Orem Chiropractor

Address: 560 S. State #C2 Orem, UT 84058

Phone Number: 801-225-1311