Chronic Back or Neck Pain:
Poor posture is a common cause for back and neck pain. Statistics show that 80% of American’s will suffer from back pain in their lifetime. Some of the symptoms include:
- Cervical Kyphosis (straightening of neck)
- Tension Headaches – often misdiagnosed as migraine headaches
- Constant neck/shoulder strain
- Rounded shoulders
- Bicep/rotator cuff syndrome
- Degeneration of cervical (neck) and lumbar (low back) usually caused by trauma or multiple micro-traumas
- Weak and stiff muscles
- Decreased range of motion
- Low back and neck pain
Patients with scoliosis or other spinal deformities will have these additional effects from poor posture:
- Usually causes cervical kyphosis
- Muscle asymmetry (unbalanced)
- Lower back pain
- Middle (thoracic) back pain
- Leg length problems
These are the most common causes of poor posture:
- High heels
- Sitting on top of your wallet
- Sitting at computer for long durations. Ideally you should get up and stretch every 20 minutes. Lack of movement causes shortening of hamstrings, gluts (buttocks), and lower back muscles.
- Lack of abdominal strength
Treatment Plan:
- Find the problem, do not band-aid the symptoms!
- Acute pain treatment
- Work on range of motion
- Work on chronic pain
- Correct posture
– Proper medical history
– X-rays
– Chiropractic
– Physical therapy
– Accupuncture
– Medication
– Chiropractic
– Physical therapy
– Ergonomics
– Physical therapy
– Home exercises
– Pilate’s
– Yoga
– Guided weight training
– Patient education