2014 year of postural health

I am excited for 2014, every year at this time I like to reflect at the year quickly closing, But I find if I look in the rearview mirror too long, you are not aware of life that is ahead of you. So in looking ahead, I want to make 2014 the year of postural health. So I am going to write a weekly Facebook blogs about postural health.

We are living in a day where we are always moving our head in a forward posture, sitting, computers, bicycling, driving, weight gain are just part of the list of actions that cause us to put our heads in a forward position. We call it anterior head translation, or forward head posture. In layman's terms it is having your head forward of center.  Rene Cailliet M.D., a former director of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Southern California states:

“Head in forward posture can add up to thirty pounds of abnormal leverage on the cervical spine. This can pull the entire spine out of alignment. Forward head posture (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, which blocks the action of the hyoid muscles, especially the inferior hyoid responsible for helping lift the first rib during inhalation.”

What I really want you to know about this statement is when the head is forwards, you can loose 30% of your ability to take in a breath of air. Without air we die, but with diminished air it effects us in countless ways. Next week we will address these negative effects on our activities of daily living (ADL's). Now I just want you to start thinking about FHP, do you have it? a good way to access it, is for someone to look at you from the side, is your ear in front of the center of your shoulder? if yes then you have it. It is more complex then that but lets just start with the basic visual observation. One of my first evaluations of a new patient is to look at their posture, how the carry themselves, how good is their balance? this is the foundation that I base the rest of my examination on.

 “anterior head translation”).According to Kapandji (Physiology of the Joints, Volume III), for every inch your head moves forwards, it gains 10 pounds in weight, as far as the muscles in your upper back and neck are concerned, because they have to work that much harder to keep the head (chin) from dropping onto your chest.   This also forces the suboccipital muscles (they are the muscles in the back of the upper neck, to the base of the skull) to remain in constant contraction, putting pressure on the 3 Suboccipital nerves       ( first three nerves that exit the spinal cord, and run between the segments of the cervical vertebra.)  This causes compression of the nerves and this may cause headaches at the base of the skull. Pressure on the suboccipital nerves can also mimic sinus (frontal) headaches. I have placed on my web site, a video that shows the impact of pressure on the nerves. go to it and enjoy. if you have friends, and relatives with bad posture, have them "like" me so they can follow along. I want to see at the end of 2014, that we have made a difference in lives. I want us all to stand tall. 

Next week I will discuss the negative health effects of forward head posture