South Strasburg Wellness

Posture & Neck Pain

Forward Head Posture

We all know we are supposed to sit upright. For optimal performance of our cervical spine (neck region), its important our joints are aligned properly. This means having our head directly over our shoulders. Imagine a line running from your ear, down to your shoulder. This line represents the best way to carry our upper body. Research shows that every 1 inch deviation forward from this line, places an additional 10lbs of weight to our head for our shoulders and neck to carry. For most people looking down at their cell phone or computer this could represent 20-40lbs extra. As our neck joints and muscles become chronically stressed, we become increasingly subject to tension headaches and chronic neck pain.

Restoring Function & Reducing Pain

Reducing Chronic Muscle Tightness - Treatment

70% of our patients have some sort of neck pain. Our job is to help improve circulation to neck muscles, reduce chronic tightness, and improve mobility of the neck.

Improving Upper Back Mobility - Treatment & Education

Stiffness in the upper back region can also contribute to neck pain. Our RMT's are trained to help reduce chronic tightness of upper back muscles, providing more optimal joint mechanics up the kinetic chain to the neck.

Reducing Rounded Shoulders - Treatment & Education

Neck pain can also be produced from having rounded shoulders. Using both massage, stretching and myofascial release can be beneficial in promoting balance between opposing muscle groups in the shoulder region.

Strengthening Shoulder Blade Muscles - Education

Our job is also to educate patients on what muscles are important to strengthen. For example, having strong back muscles that can "pull your shoulder blades back" often times helps promote more efficient shoulder positioning and decreases excessive load on the cervical (neck) region.

Postural Awareness - Education

Often times being aware of postural habits is enough to begin to correct them. Our job as RMT's are to identify easy and accessible ways to monitor postural habits such as suggesting the use of an exercise band throughout the day, shoulder repositioning exercises or simply deep breathing and letting the shoulders relax.