As a society over the last 30 or so years our jobs and lifestyles have changed quite a bit due to the incredible progression of electronics. They’ve changed our weekends, the way we perform our jobs, they’ve changed our summers, rainy days, the way we communicate, the way we shop, and in numerous others ways for which I could go on and on about.
Many of our jobs require us to sit at a desk for 8+ hours a day 40+ hours a week which is roughly 2000 hours a year that we sit and stare at a computer. We are creatures of habit and likely do the same thing every day whether it’s on a computer or not. Computers have made our jobs easier, no question, but what are they doing to our spine? Do you get persistent headaches on a regular basis? Do you have headaches regularly? Do you have a tense neck without having an injury?
As a Chiropractor, one of the most common complaints is ‘neck pain’ turning into a chronic headache in which nothing gets rid of the pain completely, not even medication. A majority of patients who visit this office have a similar diagnosis in what we call ‘Upper Crossed Syndrome’ or UCS.
This condition causes many symptoms which may include; chronic headaches, mid back pain, musculoskeletal pain, neck pain and even depression. But what is it? As per the diagram below, it is when our posterior neck musculature (specifically our Suboccipitals, Upper Trapezius, Levator Scapulae) become tense/tight/overused and our chest becomes tight due to forward head carriage, poor posture and overuse. We also develop weak anterior neck musculature (cervical flexors, scalenes) and weak mid back musculature (rhomboids, lower trapezius).