86 » OpenRoad Driver
Soon you are uncomfortable lying on
your back in bed without that pillow. But
simple discomfort is not the only issue
that a forward head can cause. As Paul
Chek states, “For every inch that the
head’s centre of gravity is shifted forward,
the lower cervical spine is subsequently
subjected to compressive forces equivalent
to a one-time additional weight of the
head.”
Most heads weigh between 12 and 20
pounds, so if your head were even three
inches forward, that would put between
36 and 60 pounds of extra weight on
the lower cervical neck spine, which is
extremely fatiguing to the back of your
neck. The pull on the back of the head is
also known to cause chronic headaches.
These muscles that must deal with this
constant load become exhausted, and their
blood flow proportionally diminishes as
muscle contraction increases. This lack
of blood flow is often the primary source
of muscle pain in the neck region. Over
time, the pain may migrate lower as more
muscles become involved. As certain
muscles tighten under the strain, their
opposites lengthen and weaken, extending
the problem further into the body. For
example, as your shoulder blades are
pulled up to support the forward head,
the muscles that pull your shoulder blades
down weaken.