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How is your curve?

Have you had your neck checked by a chiropractor? A side view x-ray of the neck will show you the condition of your curve. Maybe you have already had one and have been told by the doctor that you have lost your normal curve or have forward head posture. If so, then read on to learn more about how important it is to correct this curve.

What is Straightening of the Normal Cervical Lordosis a Big Problem?

When you lose the normal neck curve, the weight of the head is no longer balanced by the opposing curve (kyphosis) in the upper back. This causes muscle power to be needed to keep the head upright. For example, in the picture to the right, the head is being held up by the muscles at the back of the neck, leading to overload where those muscles attach to the skull, causing headache pain. This also causes more weight to be transferred to the discs between the vertebrae, which can lead to more wear-and-tear disc degeneration. 

How Does Straightening of the Normal Cervical Lordosis Happen? 

One of the more common causes of straightening of the normal cervical lordosis is car crashes where the neck ligaments are damaged. Other causes are more insidious, like looking down all the time to interact with a cell phone, or too much time in front of a computer. 

New Research on Straightening of the Normal Cervical Lordosis 

While we've known that straightening of the neck curve was bad news, a new study just upped the ante of bad stuff that happens when you have this problem. This research looked at 30 patients with and 30 matched controls without loss of cervical lordosis. Doppler ultrasound was used to measure the blood flow through the vertebral artery. This important blood vessel courses through holes in the neck bones, so it could be vulnerable if the relationships between the neck bones change in the patients with loss blood flow through the vessel. YIKES! Given that this one major sources of blood flow to the brain, this could be a huge future problem for teenager who have been glued to their phone since childhood! 

How Can You Treat Straightening of the Normal Cervical Lordosis?

From a conservative-therapy standpoint, there are some nice programs specifically designed to get the curve back. One is used by chiropractors and uses a combination of adjustments and special traction devices to restore the curve. Therapies can also be used to work on stretching out and releasing the tight muscles in the neck and chest. If the neck ligaments are damaged, then highly precise injections into these ligaments use platelets or stem cells may help. Surgery usually not recommended as a viable solution. 

Study from: www.medscimonit.com/abstract/index/idArt/897500
  

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