Forward Head Posture

[neferkitti]

feeling down about all this
went to pt to ask about lifting weights or some kind of machine exercise and she said no.  she would only trust me to do cable rows on a machine, my body cant handle anything else. 
i feel like if i just do what she says ill NEVER gain any muscle in my back.  especially since i hate the push up plus and she's run out of exercises to give me. 

Trig, this sucks. Cable rows look like a decent upper body exercise. How are you handling these? Is she a good PT, or are you with her because you don't have a choice?

[trigeminalneuralgia]

hey nef 

the cable rows are awesome, ive been looking at machines on walmart.  i could just get one shipped to my house and sell on craiglist if i stop using it.  the gym seems so pointless since id only use one machine for 2 minutes.  pt put me on a REAL seated row machine with the lowest weight and it was easy.  there werent cables tho, just bar handles and a place to rest your chest.  i really liked this equipment but it looks expensive, the cables are cheaper.

 my pt saved my life in the beginning, she told me to brace my neck and put pillows under my armpits  (gives shoulders a rest) AND to get my magnesium checked.  now its a major plateau.  i'm too lazy to change tho,  there are 2 other pts in the facility, i wonder if they know anything different. 

i had been to 3 pts before her and they were all AWFUL.  so i chose her, insurance doesnt cover my visits anymore.  hasnt since 2011.


ill post any decent machines i see.  theyre suprisingly confusing.  some look like they do seated rows but they dont

[trigeminalneuralgia]

dont mind me, i have to rant some more.  too much coffee.  i might change my mind about all of this tomorrow, lol

ive been looking at my parents posture, and this is where all the posture stuff makes me question myself

my mom has AWFUL posture, she's older so it's excusable but it's awful. 
dowager's hump,
big-boobied-back (depressed shoulders, downturned scaps), shoulder impingement, cant do any of the shoulder mobility stretches i do on the wall,
must have zero sex hormones bc post-menopausal and awful diet,
she eats TERRIBLY, she takes some multivitamin, which might help a very tiny bit if at all,

SHE IS NOT IN PAIN EVER.  on the flip side she isn't sedentary for her age.  she's always hunched over doing house/yard work or driving around.  she sits but not for very long


my dad has AWFUL posture
dowager's hump,
elevated and slightly winged shoulders (very similar mine but with a bunch of muscle around them) shoulder impingement, cant do any of the shoulder mobility stretches i do on the wall,
bad bad forward head posture
his diet isn't as bad as my moms but it's still not good, he has blood sugar issues and eats tons of carbs
must have zero sex hormones bc he's so old (76......)
he has heart problems so he is extremely sedentary yet he has no upper body pain, he has lumbar/hip issues from when he was younger. 

but i still wonder since my bone structure is very very similar to his, what if he has a large c7 (he's too overweight to really tell)?  his ribs feel slightly elevated, he is not pain!  his hands are not NUMB.

anyways, it has me thinking my pain is mostly from an injury and the magnesium deficiency from taking pain meds to treat the injury.
my pain is NOT FROM--
not eds (altho the eds made it 100000000000000000x easier to injure myself),
not any suboptimal hormonal thing
not even bad posture.  the bad posture just makes it more likely for me to injure myself.   

but then once youre already injured you have to have perfect posture bc your body remembers being injured.  it's like PTSD

[trigeminalneuralgia]

coffee time

http://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Sick-Chronically-Caregivers/dp/0861716264

im going to buy this book ^  i really like the idea behind it, kind of a zen way to deal with pain...  the title is awful tho.


Welcome to my website about my book, How To Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers. Foreword by Sylvia Boorstein.

I fell ill on a trip to Paris in 2001 with what the doctors diagnosed as an acute viral infection, but I  never recovered. I wrote this book while bed-bound – on my back, laptop on my stomach, notes strewn about on the blanket, printer within arm’s reach.

My goal in writing it was to help and inspire those who must meet the challenges posed by any chronic illness or condition: coping with the relentlessness of symptoms; weathering fear about the future; coming to terms with a life of relative isolation; facing the misunderstanding of others; dealing with the health care system; and, for a spouse, partner, or other caregiver, adapting to so many unexpected life changes.

The book contains easy-to-learn tools and practices to help people live skillfully, maintain equanimity, and even find joy despite the profound changes in their lives. Each tool and practice is illustrated with examples from my own experience, so the book is also highly personal.

Although our bodies may be sick or otherwise disabled, our minds can be at peace.

[trigeminalneuralgia]

so one of the pts i went to (a good one) has posted answers on a site called SHARECARE.  i thought i'd post some--

Could uneven shoulders indicate any issue?
Uneven shoulders can be observed in a couple of planes. One of the most common observations is when one shoulder looks higher than the other. This could indicate either a structural, muscular or neural imbalance.

Structurally, the patient may have a leg length discrepancy or a scoliosis that causes the shoulders to be raised on one side.

Muscularly, the shoulder blade or scapula has multiple muscles that stabilize it in position. Muscular imbalances can easily occur that cause certain muscles of the scapula to pull it in a certain direction. For example, in many single arm-dominated sports such as baseball or tennis, the dominate arm tends to over-develop the latissmus dorsi which is your ‘wing’ muscle. With more muscular development it actually pulls the shoulder blade down. In standing postures, most of these athletes will look like their shoulder is lower on the same side. This can create problem for the lowered shoulder, especially when the arm is required to repetitively raise over their head. With the shoulder lowered it takes greater work of the opposing muscles to raise the arm overhead. Over time, it can cause poor shoulder mechanics and lead to injury of the shoulder.

When someone has chronic nerve symptoms in their neck and arm due to a radiculopathy or pinched nerve in their neck, many times you may see that the shoulder on the same side looks elevated. This is due to the adaptation of the muscles to shorten or spasm to elevate the shoulder girdle and allows more room for the nerve to conduct. Patient’s with this pattern often feel tight in their neck and upper shoulder. When they try to stretching the muscles it makes their nerve symptoms worse. This happens because the muscle is not tight but in protective spasm keeping the nerve from being injured further. In this case it is important to treat the nerve first before trying to lower the shoulder girdle.

[trigeminalneuralgia]

Crunches the best exercise to eliminate my back pain?
No. There is a misunderstanding that the stronger your abs are, the better it is for your back. Although strong abs can help stabilize your spine, current research indicates that there are different roles of muscles in the trunk. Generally speaking, the smaller muscles of your spine called ‘local’ muscles help stabilize the spine in low load situations such as prolonged standing, sitting, and light movements such as bending to brush your teeth. While, there are ‘global’ muscles that are the larger muscles -  such as the rectus abdominis, obliques, and back paraspinal muscles that are designed more for movement, power, and stabilization at higher impact.

 

It is important to have both ‘local’ and ‘global’ systems working correctly. The ‘local’ muscles - transversus abdominis, pelvic floor, and diaphragm help provide intra-abdominal pressure to your trunk. This pressure is similar to a sealed can of soda that maintains the carbonation of a drink. If you were to open the can, you would lose its pressure. Similarly, research from the University of Queensland suggests that with back pain the smaller muscles lose control and thus your intra-abdominal pressure is not as effective to stabilize your spine. Also, along the back of your spine is a muscle called the multifidus. The deeper portions of it run vertebra to vertebra and they are also designed to provide stability to the spine.

 

We can utilize real-time ultrasound imaging to visualize and cue a client to contract the ‘local’ muscles correctly. Once the ‘local’ muscle work correctly, it is important to do exercises that integrate the ‘global’ muscles - not just with the abs, but also the muscles around the trunk. It is much more effective to do exercises that coordinate the use of these muscles rather than just doing abdominal crunches. Please consult with a qualified health practitioner to guide you through the proper exercise progression

[trigeminalneuralgia]

What can I do for piriformis syndrome?
The pirformis muscle is located deep in your posterior hip, underneath the larger gluteal muscles. The pirformis is involved with rotary stability of the hip. Many times the pirformis becomes overused and spasms. The sciatic nerve can also run over, through, or under the pirformis muscle with patients at times complaining of sciatic nerve symptoms down the leg.Patient's classically complain of deep buttocks pain.

Please consult with a qualified health practitioner to diagnose the cause of pirformis syndrome.

For self-help tips - use of foam rolls to improve the muscle and fascia in the buttocks can help. Improve gluteal stability such as bridges and quarter squats, once the acute buttocks pain subsides, can help as well. I am also a firm believer of also assessing gait mechanics and determining why the pirformis muscle is being over used.


This can be due to a stiff ankle, and unstable pelvis, residual nerve tension from a previous herniated disc that presses on the sciatic nerve. All could be factors that eventually causes the pirformis muscle to compensate - and thus cause pain.

[trigeminalneuralgia]

christ i have all of these 

What causes neck pain?

There are many causes of neck pain. Many times the joints in the neck wear out due to poor postures or a traumatic injury such as a car accident or sports injury. Patients often assume that their pain after such injuries will go away over time. However, what happens is that the neck joints continue to be irritated and potential arthritic changes can occur.

Other sources of neck pain should be considered as well. This includes trigger points in the such neck muscles as the sternocleidomastoid that commonly cause referred pain to the neck, as well as headaches. The nerves of the neck can also cause neck pain, as well as symptoms in the arm. Muscle stability of the neck is also important especially the smaller muscles that are closest to the spine. The longus colli muscle lays on front of the neck vertebrae and is designed to provide proper stability especially in prolonged positions such as sitting. The joints above and below the neck vertebrae can also cause increased stress to the neck. If the jaw does not work correctly it can cause the neck muscles and joints to work harder to compensate. Likewise, poor postures in the mid-back or thoracic spine can alter the way the neck is used and can cause undue stress at the neck to compensate for poor postures.

[Marisama]

Whenever I see that little Frankenstein avatar, I know it's just going to be nonsense.  Is there a way to ignore user's posts?

[trigeminalneuralgia]

Oh im sorry.  Right lets just go back to blaming everything on our jaw

[trigeminalneuralgia]

Like seriously I have a whiplash injury and have spent thousands of dollars at doctors and doing physical therapy...and ive spent two years reading about forward head posture.  You can call it nonsense all you want but its totally appropriate for this thread. 

[Marisama]

I shouldn't say "nonsense", but I would just prefer to ignore the long posts.  I was just wondering if there's a way to do so.

[stevek216]

I shouldn't say "nonsense", but I would just prefer to ignore the long posts.  I was just wondering if there's a way to do so.

The posts are long but they all contain pertinent information, this thread is about posture and Trig posted a lot of good information about posture.  In any case, no there's no way to skip "long" posts and as long as nobody is spamming I think it's fine to be prolific.  I've even been known to do it myself from time to time so let's keep things as civil as possible.  I didn't see any nonsense in what was posted and if you really don't want to read posts by a certain user, the scroll bar on the side does serve a purpose.

[trigeminalneuralgia]

Thanks Steve

[neferkitti]

Agree with Steve and Trig, Mari. If certain posts do not interest you, scroll through.