Staying fit to a ‘C’
By NICK SMITH - Remedy This - 11/18/2008
Modern health care continues to arm patients with knowledge of the normal limits of health.
Most of us know what blood pressure, pulse rate, cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels are healthy. Even if the numbers are not committed to memory, it is known that we must be checked at pre-determined intervals.
In the past when these baseline health parameters were not monitored and managed, many people suffered adverse outcomes, from lifelong complications to death. However advances in health care now arm us with more knowledge of what “normal” is.
Did you know there is a normal angle of curvature for the neck?
The neck consists of seven bones sitting atop each other. Between these bones are disks, best thought of as bushings or spacers. Traveling through the center of the bones is the spinal cord, and a nerve root exits from holes in the side of each bone. When visualized from the side the neck should resemble a backward “C” shape. This curve, along with the muscles, ligaments, and tendons, allow for movement, stability, upright posture, protection and shock absorption.
This information is far from new: A 1977 paper in the Journal of Anatomy demonstrated that even babies should be born with a neck curve. Research done in the 1960s and ’70s by Swedish neurosurgeon Dr. Alf Brieg demonstrated that loss of neck curve produced unfavorable mechanical tension in the spinal cord, which led to poor long-term outcomes. The normal curve can be decreased and even reversed due to sports injuries, falls, auto crashes, birth trauma, poor ergonomics or habits and other mechanical insult. A 2002 Spine Journal study suggested that loss of curve was predictive of abnormal joint motion.
There are those in the health care community who disagree with the concept of a “normal” neck curve. From a review of the literature as well as clinical experience with thousands of patients, it is my opinion that the literature supporting a normal neck curve far outweighs that which is opposed to it.
Some doctors and therapists assert that muscle spasms in the neck are a cause of loss of neck curve. However, I was unable to locate a single published paper to support this.
The normal limits of the neck curve are from 31-40 degrees. Patients with a curve less than 20 degrees are 18 times more likely to suffer from chronic neck pain. Also, those with straightened or reversed curves were shown to experience significantly more joint capsule damage in a 6 mph rear-end collision than normal subjects.
If you suffer from chronic neck pain, headaches, and upper back stiffness, it is possible that your neck curve is not within normal limits. Go to www.idealspine.com for a national directory of doctors trained and qualified to restore normal spinal curves.
Dr. Nick Smith is a chiropractor at Active Life Chiropractic Center in Helena and is Montana’s only certified Biomechanics of Posture practitioner. Reach him at 443-3965 or www.activelifemt.com.
Most of us know what blood pressure, pulse rate, cholesterol levels, blood sugar levels are healthy. Even if the numbers are not committed to memory, it is known that we must be checked at pre-determined intervals.
In the past when these baseline health parameters were not monitored and managed, many people suffered adverse outcomes, from lifelong complications to death. However advances in health care now arm us with more knowledge of what “normal” is.
Did you know there is a normal angle of curvature for the neck?
The neck consists of seven bones sitting atop each other. Between these bones are disks, best thought of as bushings or spacers. Traveling through the center of the bones is the spinal cord, and a nerve root exits from holes in the side of each bone. When visualized from the side the neck should resemble a backward “C” shape. This curve, along with the muscles, ligaments, and tendons, allow for movement, stability, upright posture, protection and shock absorption.
This information is far from new: A 1977 paper in the Journal of Anatomy demonstrated that even babies should be born with a neck curve. Research done in the 1960s and ’70s by Swedish neurosurgeon Dr. Alf Brieg demonstrated that loss of neck curve produced unfavorable mechanical tension in the spinal cord, which led to poor long-term outcomes. The normal curve can be decreased and even reversed due to sports injuries, falls, auto crashes, birth trauma, poor ergonomics or habits and other mechanical insult. A 2002 Spine Journal study suggested that loss of curve was predictive of abnormal joint motion.
There are those in the health care community who disagree with the concept of a “normal” neck curve. From a review of the literature as well as clinical experience with thousands of patients, it is my opinion that the literature supporting a normal neck curve far outweighs that which is opposed to it.
Some doctors and therapists assert that muscle spasms in the neck are a cause of loss of neck curve. However, I was unable to locate a single published paper to support this.
The normal limits of the neck curve are from 31-40 degrees. Patients with a curve less than 20 degrees are 18 times more likely to suffer from chronic neck pain. Also, those with straightened or reversed curves were shown to experience significantly more joint capsule damage in a 6 mph rear-end collision than normal subjects.
If you suffer from chronic neck pain, headaches, and upper back stiffness, it is possible that your neck curve is not within normal limits. Go to www.idealspine.com for a national directory of doctors trained and qualified to restore normal spinal curves.
Dr. Nick Smith is a chiropractor at Active Life Chiropractic Center in Helena and is Montana’s only certified Biomechanics of Posture practitioner. Reach him at 443-3965 or www.activelifemt.com.
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