How To Fix Horrible Head/shoulder Posture?

[JoeKool]

Yoga for sure. That's a biggie. There's an under garment you can wear that kinda pulls your shoulders back. It's like a reverse bra. You can sleep in it or wear it at home if you don't feel comfortable out with it on. But if you get a standing desk and this thin garment, it'll be like a new you

 

[Constatine]

Laying on your back on the floor and rolling around lightly helps me.

 

[Luann]

Mckenzie chin tuck exercises, plus learn to rest your tongue against your upper palate with firm lip seal.

The root cause of head forward posture comes in part from the need to open the airway. Airway could be too small if jaw did not develop sufficiently forward and/or wide.

So you think bad posture starts with the jaw underdevelopment. I never drank milk as a kid and I have chronic headaches and neck pain, as well as sinus infections. My lower jaw needs to come forward and I realize I've just been trying to breathe this whole time. I've been drinking skim milk, but because of what pboy said about whole milk, I will add coconut oil to my milk starting now. I'm sure fat soluble vitamins will help.

 

[Dave Clark]

Something that makes a bg difference in jaw, neck, back, and shoulder alignment is to have an atlas orthogonal adjustment, which is an alignment of the upper ceervical vertabra known as the atlas and axis, or the C1 and C2. This should be done by an upper cervical chiropractor that specializes in it. My wife had almost full recovery of Menieres when she had hers aligned, and her TMJ and shoulders straightened right out. For me, all the tight muscles in my neck and shoulders went away, plus my lower back healed. It is quite remarkable stuff. Do a search, there is a bunch of good testimonials and info. Also, it can bring down blood pressure when done, which my wife experienced, and has been noted in the info.

 

[Thomm]

Sleep on a blanket on the floor. Maybe on 2 blankets.

I needed 2 weeks to adjust to it but now i realy love to sleep on the floor. Doing it for 2 years now and i sleep like a baby on the floor. The hard surface is like a massage all night long. 9 hours later in the morning i wake up like new born.

Those soft mattresses and every kind of padding are messing you up.

 

[ecstatichamster]

Over many years I have observed that posture dramatically improves when your CO2 levels rise. When you increase your control pause, as Buteyko called it, to the 30s, posture spontaneously improves.

I spot people with low CP based on their posture.

 

[encerent]

Sleep on a blanket on the floor. Maybe on 2 blankets.

I needed 2 weeks to adjust to it but now i realy love to sleep on the floor. Doing it for 2 years now and i sleep like a baby on the floor. The hard surface is like a massage all night long. 9 hours later in the morning i wake up like new born.

Those soft mattresses and every kind of padding are messing you up.

This is a great suggestion. I think sleeping on the floor with little padding is underrated

 

[shepherdgirl]

 

[yerrag]

Weird as it may sound, my posture actually improved a lot by "Peating". Maybe the extra calcium, the k2, maybe just the extra sugar and energy, but my posture used to be awful, but has gotten much better, without much conscious effort.

All my life, I could not shake the habit of standing with my left leg locked, and my right leg slightly diagonal to the floor resting on the heel. I don't know if you can picture, but it's the typical lazy stand.

The person I always think of when it comes to standing erect is Ronald Reagan. When I catch myself in the lazy position, I would correct but I have always backslid into the lazy stand, as if it was an automatic position.

Little did I know my mineral balance has a part to play in that. Knowing Peating, I began to increase my calcium and salt intake. And because I had discovered another way, thru burtlancast, to chelate lead, I began to take more magnesium chloride as well as potassium thru food. The intent was to lower my blood pressure, not to improve how I stand. But I was hopeful it would also improve my arthritic left knee.

Four months into it (I was taking 4.8g of magnesium chloride to correct what I perceive to be a probable balance in my body magnesium stores), I started to have less pain in my left knee. I could walk up the stairs with no more pain, and I didn't need to press my hand against the pew when standing back up from a kneeling position.

Then, a few days ago I noticed that I was no longer standing with the lazy position as I was chopping coconut flesh. And I felt very natural in that position.

I agree that eating well, making sure deficiencies are addressed, especially with mineral balance, will go a long way in improving posture.

The Youtube video on primal posture in an earlier post shows how nice the posture is of aborigines. They did not need posture training in a natural setting with no accumulated practices coming from a modern society. Their posture just came naturally as would a dog or cat or any wild animal fed well and allowed to roam.

I'm leery of claims by dog experts that certain breeds of dogs are prone to diseases such as hip dysplasia. With better food and allowed to move around more, they will more likely be less prone to it.

 

[shepherdgirl]

I think sleeping on the floor with little padding is underrated

I agree, sleeping on the floor is helpful for me when my back hurts. Also I think using a big fluffy pillow puts the head forward of the shoulder joints all night, probably making head alignment worse.

 

[InterrogaOmnia]

Romanian deadlifts would be my go to exercise for fixing posture. I tried sleeping on the floor for months when my posture was jacked but it mostly just led to poor sleep. I prefer a very firm mattress instead.

12 Cues To Master Your Hip Hinge & RDL

Joel seedman is a great resource for postural exercises

 

[Lecarpetron]

So you think bad posture starts with the jaw underdevelopment.

Yep. No one is yet sure whether underdeveloped jaw results from mechanical failure (no breastfeeding, soft foods that don't work the muscles) or nutritional deficiencies. People argue for one side or the other but I can think of examples I know who refute both sides. But once the airway is compressed (narrow, vaulted palate, soft tissue restiction in the form of tongue tie, constricted upper airway in the nasal passages), the person loses proper oral posture. Without proper oral posture in the form of force/support from the tongue, growth lags and the airway becomes even more restricted.

The further the head tilt to compensate for the airway, the more compensations are made elsewhere in terms of posture. Slumped shoulders, dowager hump, legs rotated inward, flat feet.

 

[docall18]

A lot of facial, shoulder misalignment can come from using one side of the body over the other.

If u use ur right side a lot, ur right hip will be pulled up and right shoulder pulled down. Your spine will be twisted causing you skull to be out of alignment.

A lot of right footed footballers will have facial misalignment in one direction, left footed in the opposite.

 

[Luann]

Yep. No one is yet sure whether underdeveloped jaw results from mechanical failure (no breastfeeding, soft foods that don't work the muscles) or nutritional deficiencies. People argue for one side or the other but I can think of examples I know who refute both sides. But once the airway is compressed (narrow, vaulted palate, soft tissue restiction in the form of tongue tie, constricted upper airway in the nasal passages), the person loses proper oral posture. Without proper oral posture in the form of force/support from the tongue, growth lags and the airway becomes even more restricted.

The further the head tilt to compensate for the airway, the more compensations are made elsewhere in terms of posture. Slumped shoulders, dowager hump, legs rotated inward, flat feet.

That's very interesting, lecarpetron. So it's a vicious cycle?
I was breast-fed but think I had nutritional deficiencies since probably before birth. Probably didn't eat enough during childhood, college, young adult, etc. Is this something you have researched for yourself, and have you seen any useful results if so?

 

[Lecarpetron]

That's very interesting, lecarpetron. So it's a vicious cycle?
I was breast-fed but think I had nutritional deficiencies since probably before birth. Probably didn't eat enough during childhood, college, young adult, etc. Is this something you have researched for yourself, and have you seen any useful results if so?

The classic example of the vicious cycle is the stroke victim. The muscles on one side stop activating and that side of the face seemingly "melts."

As far as I know, there's nothing out there in the way of clinical studies. Some theories/discussion I've stumbled across in case you're interested...
Bio-Mechanical Dystonia Biomechanical approach to describing dystonia...these guys invented a bite appliance that adds height to the molars and acts as a "lever" to improve alignments elsewhere in the body. Detailed description of the forces generated by oral posture/chewing/swallowing and their effects downstream
The Occlivion - Coming to Kindle Store in November 2017 Not the most professional grade writer, but I think this guy is on to something in some cases
Functional orthodontist Mike Mew's video about posture and jaw development
Right to Grow Harmful effects of restrictive orthodontics