No matter if you’ve come to us for relief care, corrective care or ongoing wellness care, you’ve heard us talk about your spinal health. In particular, one of the first things we tell our patients about is the health of their cervical curve.
Located in your neck area, the cervical curve is where the first seven vertebrae of your spine are located. A healthy cervical curve would resemble a “C” shape, but as we place stress on the body—both major stressors such as trauma to the neck and incremental stressors—we can lose this optimal and natural curve.
Across the spectrum of neck curvatures, we see the following:
· Lordotic: This state is the “C” shaped curvature that is your natural, desired and healthy curvature in the neck, which is about 42 degrees when standing upright.
· Hypolordotic or Alordotic: This state is where you have a decreased curve or no curve, as reflected in an X-ray.
· Reverse Curve or Kyphotic: This state is when the neck is curving in the opposite direction of your natural and intended curvature.
· “S” Curve: Having an “S” curve means your spine has both a lordotic and kyphotic curve.
Our Natural Neck Curve: Holding & Transferring Stress Throughout the Body
Your neck has a “C” shaped curve so that it can absorb and manage forces we experience throughout the day. In a healthy spine, we’re able to efficiently reduce the stress that is placed on our spinal joints on a daily basis.
For people without a lordotic curve, they often experience headaches or migraines. That’s in part because when we lose our ideal shape in our neck it can result in increased stress in the neck, upper back and head. The natural curve in your neck is what allows for “shock absorption” to reduce the stress to those areas.
The discs can also begin to lose their overall integrity, wear out or degenerate quicker. They are not able to receive as much nutrition from our blood, which keeps them healthy, and in turn they become more susceptible to injuries. Holding an increased amount of weight, our discs can then get worn out, dehydrated, and injured more easily, increasing the odds of a bulge or herniation.
At the same time, the Central Nervous System, as it runs through the spinal column, gets pulled and stretched in ways that also cause pain. This can cause pain to radiate or travel into the arms or legs and other areas. The good news is that through corrective treatments, including chiropractic, and improving our posture, we can work to restore an optimal curve in our neck.
What Can You Do To Restore a Healthy Curve in Your Neck?
Now that you are ready to start being more mindful of your posture, here are a few of the top ways to improve or maintain your posture:
1. If you haven’t already, visit your chiropractor for an exam and possible X-ray to discover the current health of your spine. Dr. Bradford will walk you through an approach that can examine your spine, your nervous system, and other major factors of your health to identify, correct, improve—or maintain—your overall health.
We like to point out that not all our patients are experiencing pain or health ailments when they visit us; in fact, many come because they want to maintain wellness, improve performance and longevity and continue to encourage habits that help them reduce the likelihood of injury.
2. Take time out to examine your posture throughout the day. Examine your posture while standing, sitting, driving and even evaluate your posture when you sleep.
3. Don’t forget to stay hydrated. When focusing on improving posture, don’t forget about water or other nutrient-packed sources of hydration. Part of the big picture is that your body does require water to maintain soft tissue elasticity and the optimal amount of fluid in your joints.
4. Consider replacing or adjusting how you wear your purse. If your bag is heavy (say, more than 10 pounds for the average person), it can add unnecessary stress to your body, and it can also cause your spine to curve over time. If you wear a purse or bag on the same shoulder each day, your body may be elevating that shoulder to compensate as it carries your bag. Over time this can lead to asymmetry in your posture. At the very least, aim to make your purse less heavy, and switch sides if you can’t avoid using a single-strap purse.
5. Check for proper posture when standing by taking advantage of a mirror. In front of your mirror, face your body sideways and see how it feels to have your ears, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles aligned. Ensure your shoulders are not rounded and your back is not arched. Consider starting each day this way to serve as a bit of a benchmark to remind yourself of what it feels like to have proper posture when you stand.
6. Ask your Chiropractor to give you feedback on your sleep posture. It’s not ideal to sleep on your stomach, so try to avoid doing so for the health of your neck and back. Talk to us about your particular sleep position(s) so we can evaluate how this is affecting your posture.
Maintaining Proper Posture Is Not Easy!
Working on having proper posture is an ongoing effort. Schedule an appointment with us today if you’d like to learn more about what you can do to improve the health of your spine, including how we can help you setup your workspace to be ergonomically optimized.