The most common thing I treat is anterior head translation. The ligaments of the posterior aspect of the neck become stretched due to trauma or sitting with bad posture say.. working on a computer all day or reading many hours at a stretch. Many health issues arise when we allow out posture to shift in this manner.
The normal spine is supposed to have four curves on the coronal plane. (Looking at the body from one side through the shoulder coming out the other side shoulder.) When we look at the body on the sagital plane (Front to back) there should be NO curves though its common for some people to have lateral deviation known as scoliosis to varying degrees.
The most common structural shift which I deal with almost every day is head forward posture. Normal alignment is when the skull is over the thorax or in simpler terms, your head needs to be balanced over your shoulders. When it shifts forward it stretches the posterior longitudinal ligament which is attatched on one end at the base of the skull and the other along the belt line. Many people with head forward posture present in my office with low back pain. Its this ligament that functions like a rope that is the culprit. Pull on the head end of the rope and there is a reaction in the low back which is where the other end of the rope is attached. Its a simple cause and effect though at first pass to some patients doesn't make sense.
For every half inch of anterior translation there is ten times the stress on the muscles that hold the head up in gravity. Think of the head as a twelve pound weight, the neck as a six inch lever arm that is exerting stresses into the rest of the system. The more forward the translation, the more aberrant mechanical stress it's causing on the bones and muscles that support the weight of the skull.
If you have any of the following you may be a candidate for Corrective Chiropractic:
1) Numbness and tingling in a hand or hands.
2) Chronic Headaches.
3) Muscle tension and or spasm in the traps or between the shoulder blades. (I store my stress in my shoulders.)
4) Alteration of grip strength.
5) Degeneration of the spinal vertebra (Though this takes time to develop.)
6) “Dowagers Hump” Though this can also be caused by a genetic deposition of fat right at the top of the shoulders.
7) Chronic low back pain.
8) Pain between the shoulder blades.
You may want to seek out a course of corrective Chiropractic care rather than the symptomatic relief approach. I’ve had an amazing amount of success with this process and it helps people who have had chronic pain more often than not.
By Ed Camp, Licensed San Francisco Chiropractor
There is more information about postural correction on my website www.edcampchiropratic.com if this has sparked your curiosity.
Yours in Health, Dr. Camp
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