Degeneration of Cervical Spine (Neck)
UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS HAPPENING – Part 1
PHASE ONE – Subluxation Degeneration – Cervical Spine
Poor posture (forward head) has caused a loss of normal neck curve and healthy balance. This will undoubtedly cause pain and stiffness, accelerated degeneration and probable nerve interference.
Simple explanation
Due to poor posture over an extended period, the spine has slowly deformed and lost its natural and healthy neck curve. The neck is straight and the heavy head is no longer sitting on a spring, instability results and rapidly increasing degeneration will always follow.
The cause
The body is constantly remodelling itself, breaking down and replacing itself; basically, you will become what you do all the time. If you hold your head forward for 5 hours a day for 5 years or so, you will cause postural adaptive changes resulting in a straight neck which will have the tendency to worsen as time passes.
The spinal cord and nerves are pulled tight and become stressed; the weight of the head is now on the front of the discs and a ‘slipped disc’ becomes a real possibility. The neck and shoulder muscles become very tight and lose their elasticity due to supporting the increasing weight of the head as it moves forward. Your head = 5k = bowling ball.
Stiffness, pain and loss of function will gradually become a daily occurrence as the body reminds you that something is wrong. The cervical spine is seriously ‘subluxated’ – meaning the nervous system is being affected by spinal misalignment.
What must be avoided at all costs is the further progression into a reversed neck curve. Here the neck starts to buckle forward and massive arthritic changes are inevitable, together with ever worsening health consequences. This situation is inevitable once the normal curve is lost without proactive intervention.
The Solution
A straight neck needs to have its natural curve restored as quickly as possible before the inevitable slide away from health occurs. We must bring the head back on to the shoulders and help the neck regain its healthy shape and elasticity as quickly as possible. This can be done reliably and consistently by following thoroughly practiced and researched programs which make complete sense. Programs that have already helped thousands of people regain their health.
Your chiropractor will recommend a schedule of treatment which will facilitate the necessary changes. This is likely to include specific spinal manipulations or adjustments, extension traction to reduce the forward head posture and stretching exercises to improve flexibility and range of movement.
The changes that the body will go through are consistent and predictable. If we evoke the right changes, then the changes will occur.
If you know anyone who has worsening posture and/or neck pain and stiffness, then they are losing their delicate balance and they ARE moving into a degenerative state. Please help us to help them and encourage them to give us a call.
