Having More Headaches and Neck Pain Lately?
With most people working from home or doing remote learning we are seeing more people coming to our office with neck pain and headache issues, and I think I know why. It may be from Forward Head Posture. Many of our Covid-19 workstations are not ergonomically correct. This puts added stress on the neck muscles that can cause not only muscle soreness but headaches as well. Here is how, forward head posture increases the workload for many of the muscles attached to the cervical spine, which has the job of holding up the head. Over time, forward head posture can lead to muscle imbalances as the body tries to adapt and find efficient ways to hold the head up for straight-ahead vision. The eyes looking straight ahead is important to maintain balance through the vestibular ocular reflex, another topic for another day.
When the head is upright there is about 10-12 lbs. of weight placed on the cervical spine. When your head leans forward 15 degrees there is 27 lbs of pressure put onto the cervical spine. 30 degrees yields 40 lbs. of pressure, and 45 degrees produces 49 lbs of pressure on the cervical spine. The sternocleidomastoid is a muscle at the front of the neck, often found to be weak due to the excessive weight placed upon it during forward head posture. A unilateral contraction of the sternocleidomastoid muscle flexes the cervical vertebral column to the same side (lateral flexion) and rotates the head to the opposite side. A bilateral contraction elevates the head by extending the upper cervical joints. At the same time, it flexes the lower cervical column causing an overall bending of the neck forward towards the chest. If the head is fixed, it elevates the sternum and clavicle and, thus, expands the thoracic cavity helping expand the chest to allow the lungs to fill completely.
So the sternocleidomastoid muscle must be considered when a patient presents with forward head posture and headaches. The attachment sites of the sternocleidomastoid muscle are the posterior portion performing more of the side bending movem
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