The short frosty days of winter make most of us want nothing more than to curl up in the cosiness of our living rooms. But if you’ve been a bit of a couch (or more aptly “slouch”) potato over the winter months, your neck may be taking the brunt.
Our Stoke on Trent chiropractor warns that slouching can make the average 10lb head feel more like 30lbs. That’s a whopping amount of extra pressure on the neck!
So how does this happen?
When you slouch, your chest caves in, your shoulders slant forward and your upper back starts to hunch over. Your shoulder blades also tilt forward and the neck begins to crane out. As a result of this, you inadvertently hold your head forward of the centre of gravity. To give you an idea of the damage this could cause, the weight of your head increases by about 10lbs for every inch your neck cranes forward.
Your mother was absolutely right when she told you to “sit up straight!”