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{\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.21.2509;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\sa200\sl276\slmult1\qj\lang9\f0\fs28 Hi i'm Paula Moore The Chiropractor talking
today about forward head posture and the effects on the ageing process. Forward head posture
is the leaning of the head relative to our shoulders. It's not the same as a Dowager's
Hump.\par A Dowager's Hump is something we see between
the shoulder blades and it is a result of a disease called osteoporosis, where the person
has actually fractured some vertebra in their spine giving them a wedged posture. That is
a real Dowager's Hump.\par The hump that we are talking about with forward
head posture is the bit of skin that you may have seen on your mother. That is the body's
way of protecting the area. As the head comes forward, the body lays down more fat in this
area because it perceives more risk to the spinal cord. That is the way I describe it
to my patients.\par Naturally life tends to pull us forward. Everything
we do-reading books, working on the computer, writing, washing up, running a bath, washing
our hair. Always leaning forward. Over the decades we see more of this posture if it
is not worked on.\par The more pronounced the forward head leaning,
the more devastating the health effects. I have seen thousands of patients over a number
of years and it is no coincidence that the ones with more pronounced forward head leaning
are usually the ones on a cocktail of medications. \par
What I like to do with this corrective posture is to hook my hands into a web and anchor
them over the belt-line area of your trousers. Use them as a lever to help you stand tall.
It's not a military posture it's a lengthening posture. Think about a balloon attached to
your chest and head, lengthening you. It feels good. See if you can lengthen you head toward
the ceiling. \par Feel your posture taller. Feel the weight
go back over your big toe, your little toe and your heel. Those three points should be
holding the weight of your body equally. Don't lean back onto your heels or up on your tip
toes like you are wearing heels. \par As you go up into that tall posture, you are
going to tuck your chin in. Not looking down but sliding your chin backwards to bring your
ear lobe back over your shoulders. Breath in, go tall and tuck in. I'm quite flexible
so you can see that my head goes back a long way. I have been doing these for years. \par
Some of you may be so stiff, your head doesn't seem to move at all. If that is the case and
you are older, you will probably find you have more stiffness and need to use a wall
to help you. When you do that, you simply let your head touch the wall. Now by the way,
if you have to lift your chin to get your head to touch the wall you have already got
fairly advanced forward head leaning and you probably need to see a health professional
to get the joints moving again before you can do this exercise.\par
So for those who are a little stiffer you put your head against the wall and tuck the
chin right back in and hold. When you relax you will notice your head spring forward.
You can use two fingers to tuck in, relax, tuck in, relax.\par
Watch my shoulder blades. They go from being a little bit round to really straight and
you may even hear a little 'click' in the spine when the vertebrae release some gas.
Do ten in a row, holder each for two or three seconds. Do this four times a day. I wouldn't
start with that as you may get a little sore. Start with three, four or five in a row, four
times a day. \par You may need to use the wall when you start
out. The downside of using the wall is that you can only tuck your chin in so far. When
you are free-standing you can tuck you chin in beyond correction so you get more benefit from the exercise. \par
Give that a try and let me know how you are getting on. I hope you really enjoy that,
it is a great exercise that I do every day.\par \fs22\par
}