Upper Crossed Syndrome

For all those students and people that work at a desk and in front of a computer all day, have you ever noticed that every so often you feel pain and stiffness on one side of your neck and along the top of your shoulder?  How about at the base of your head, sometimes causing a headache on one side?  Does it feel like there is something catching in your shoulder blade when you move it?  There could be several causes for any of these symptoms together or individually, but there is one in particular that is very common and can be helped with Chiropractic treatment.  It is called Upper Crossed Syndrome.  Upper crossed syndrome is a muscular imbalance that is caused primarily by poor posture of the upper body, especially the head, neck, and shoulders.  The following muscles are typically involved, forming a criss-crossed pattern:

• Upper Trapezius (Tight) - runs from the base of the back of the skull to across top of the shoulders
• Levator Scapula (Tight) - deeper than the upper trapezius, running from the upper neck to inner-top aspect of the shoulder blade
• Lower Trapezius (Weak) - runs from the top of the shoulders, down along and attaching to the spine from C-7 to T-12 vertebral levels
• Pectorals (Tight) - chest muscles that run from your breastbone to a narrow band along the inside the front upper arm just below the shoulder
• Deep Neck Flexors (Weak) - deep muscles of the sides and from of the neck that help pull the head forward and down towards the chest.

This criss-crossed imbalance causes our head to pull forward, or Anterior Head Carriage (normal is when the ear is in line with the shoulder and not in front of it), our shoulders to pull forward, up, and inward (what we call forward or anterior rolled shoulders), and the shoulder blades to roll outwards and possibly protrude outward away from the back.  All of these postural changes puts strain on the area from the base of the head down into the shoulders and the lower borders of the shoulder blades, causing decreased and altered motion of the spinal segments therein.  All this may not be apparent at first, but after awhile, it will become stiff and painful in these areas to the point that it will be hard to concentrate on work, reading, or even sleeping.  You may start to notice that you are getting headaches that are one-sided and start from the base of the head, sweeping forward to the forehead and, at times, the back of the eye.  The headache can feel like a slight pounding or throbbing, just enough to be subtle, but enough to be a nuisance.  We call these Cervicogenic headaches and usually get worse as the day goes on.

So what can be done about Upper Crossed Syndrome?  Any combination of chiropractic adjustments, exercises to fix the postural and muscular imbalances, ergonomic changes in your work or study space, and stress relief.  I find that massage therapy can also help alleviate the pain and stiffness and with stress relief (although depending on the type of massage, you may be more sore afterward).  There are also other treatments and products available to help with Upper Crossed Syndrome.  The right combination will depend on you, the patient, and the practitioner that you are seeing.  Either way, conservative care can go along way to alleviate this condition and help make up for productivity lost due to these pain patterns.