Forward Head Posture

Did you know that your head weighs 8-12 pounds (4-6kg)? That’s like carrying a bowling ball perched on your neck all day!

Looking down so much can lead to over-arching the cervical spine (neck) and over-flexing the upper thoracic spine (torso), in order to keep looking forward. Chronic forward head can pinch nerves, lead to headaches and neck pain, and trigger or exacerbate the temporomandibular joint (the hinge in your jaw). Even worse, FHP can create eye strain, bite problems, shortness of breath, lower back pain and more. If uncorrected, FHP can progress to vertebral disc herniation, bone degeneration and a permanent kyphosis (hunchback) deformity - sadly a posture associated with aging now being seen from young children upwards.

Why the neck is so complex
Your neck connects your brain and major sensory organs (nose, tongue, ears, eyes) to the rest of your body. So your flexible and narrow neck contains many complex anatomical structures. Fitting into this small space are your spinal cord, vagus and other nerves and large blood vessels. For this reason there’s many layers of muscles and tendons to support this highly mobile sensory functions of your head. These muscles attach to the ribs and clavicles, the seven cervical vertebrae (in your neck), the skull and the free-floating hyoid bone that anchors the tongue. These complex structures enable an incredible variety of movements, like nodding and shaking, tilting, extending and flexing.