Health & Fitness
April 2020
The Newsletter About Achieving and Maintaining Optimal Well-Being
NECK PAIN+GRAVITY It is an obvious fact that our head and neck sit atop of our body of which there are another 180 or more bones below holding up this 11-14-pound ball. Considering there are 206 bones in the adult body, this is quite a balancing act especially when it has to occur across three planes of movement (forward/ back, side to side, and rotation). It is a wonder it can hold center as well as it does especially when you consider the lifespan of an individual. If you are prone to neck pain and tension, then holding center is a subject of interest for you and it is a most relevant subject because of a number of really important relationships which have a lot to do with why so many deal with ongoing neck and head issues. few strategies on avoiding the unavoidable consequence of a head trying to balance in space. It is an obvious but underappreciated fact that our eyes sit on the front of our face and because of this the world we view and engage is always right in front of us. I said it was obvious, but more serious to the fact is this sets up some significant tendencies for neck tension. Now these tendencies really get amplified as we engage in more static activities with a screen in front of our face (Are you getting the picture here?). Yes, monitors, handhelds, laptops, even the person we are sitting across from and talking to is promoting this nearly unavoidable occurrence.
It is a truism that living on this gravity filled planet and perceiving with our eyes creates a most powerful tendency for our head to migrate toward the object being viewed. If you have any rebuttal on this tendency you need to go visit a local assisted living or nursing home and volunteer some of your time and see if, after 80 plus years, one’s head is in the center anymore. Actually, one does not need to go there, just look to your right or left at a stop light and you will get the picture, just go and observe kids at their desk, or in front of a video game or even how people use a pillow when sleeping on their backs. It really is all over the place, even how we sleep contributes. A forward head is a common postural habit and how often have I heard it said, “I don’t want that big hump on my upper back like my mom when I get older.” Obviously, we cannot change where our eyeballs are located on our face, so what could we do to correct what is a common tendency? This is where “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” (come to think of it, that statement has a lot of application everywhere in the body) and the younger you get on board with these ideas the more you could reverse this imbalanced state. As I said, the younger one is, the less rigid and over tight the neck and upper back have become. Some of the changes are easier than others, but we all can benefit by learning some simple facts. In light of what has been said thus far, I hope you have a deeper appreciation for how insidious and destructive this migration forward can be on our musculoskeletal health and comfort. And truth be told, if the upper back and head are forward then usually there are postural changes occurring in the ribs, lower spine and pelvis as well. So really the head is just the tip of the iceberg in how gravity is pulling us down.
It would be hard to find a person 20 years of age or older who has not dealt with a neck tightness/tension issue at least temporarily. The truth is the number of triggers for tension has more ways to affect a neck than “how do I love thee” (Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem) and for this it would do us all well to appreciate a few of these “ways” and maybe save ourselves from the bane of many a head and neck – chronic tension, pain and headaches, not to mention jaw problems too. Why the neck and head are so vulnerable to chronic pain and tightness has much to do with holding center. When that hard to keep position is maintained over time, our neck and upper back muscles just work less hard. Have you ever tried to hold 10 pounds in your hand away from your body? Within 30- 60 seconds one’s arm is starting to feel fatigued. This is how our muscles perceive the extra work it takes to hold our heads up when it starts to move forward away from our center of gravity. It really amplifies the muscular work having to be done to hold 11-14 pounds upright when not positioned centrally over our spine. Who does not melt when some generous person comes up from behind and puts their hands on your upper shoulders and begins to squeeze and massage one of the most common tension storage sites in the body? The massage therapist can make a living here in the land of tension and trigger points (localized knots that can be very tender and even refer pain to your head and give you a headache) because tightness here is as common as tulips in May. Why would that be? Well, lets outline at least one fun (not really) fact about this good old human body that can shed some light on this common occurrence and provide a
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