What Are Important Risk Factors I Should Know About?
Forward head posture is one of the leading risk factors for CTD. It is also known as slouching, or rounded-shoulders...
Forward head posture is one of the leading risk factors for CTD. It is also known as slouching, or rounded-shoulders. In this posture, the weight of your head is no longer being carried directly over your spine. Instead, your head is moved forward ahead of the spine. This mechanically increases the weight of your head on your neck...by about 300 percent. The rounding forward of the shoulders produces a stretch weakness of the posture muscles of the upper back which must also work to hold your head upright. Therefore, the load on these muscles is dramatically increased while their strength is significantly decreased. This can lead to several chronic muscle problems in the upper back. When your upper back is rounded forward, your head must bend backward slightly on the neck to restore level vision. This can cause pressure to the soft tissues at the base of the skull and can lead to chronic headaches. The forward posture of the head on the neck causes the muscles under the chin to be pulled tight, which can pull the jaw back, causing pressure and irritation in the joint where the jaw attaches to the skull. This can lead to a very painful disorder known as Tempro Mandibular Joint Syndrome or TMJ. Forward head posture also moves your shoulder joint from the side of your body toward the front of the body, causing pressure on the shoulder joint tendons, risking shoulder tendinitis. Finally, this position of the head on the neck can cause your lateral neck muscles to shorten, causing pressure on the nerves and blood vessels passing through these muscles on their way to your working arm.