Upper Cross Syndrome

Upper Cross Syndrome can happen as a result of poor posture. Have you ever caught yourself slouching with your neck pushed forward? 

Usually, it’s our upper traps that are most affected. They’re often strained and overactive, or as I like to say “tight”. This can then cause the muscles of the chest to become shortened - thus giving us rounded shoulders. When this happens, the surrounding muscles that counter are underused and become weak (muscles in the front of the neck and between our shoulder blades). The overactive muscles and underactive muscles can then overlap, causing an X shape to develop - hence, where we get the name upper cross syndrome! 

It’s caused when we are sitting or standing for prolonged periods of time, when we’re driving, on the computer, checking our phones, or watching tv in compromising positions.

How do you know if you have it? Look in a mirror! Do you have rounded shoulders and a bent forward neck? This posture may put additional strain on surrounding bones, joints, muscles and tendons. Patients can also report:

• neck pain & headaches

• strain in the back of the neck

• tightness and pain in the chest 

• shoulder pain

• jaw pain

• fatigue

• restricted movement of the neck and shoulder

• numbness and/or tingling in the upper arms.

If you think you have symptoms, even if they’re mild, book an appointment today to see how we can help fix these problems!