What are Side Effects Caused by the Forward Head Posture?
The side effects of the forward head posture can be divided into short-term and long-term. In the beginning, poor neck posture can increase the workload of muscles attached to the cervical spine, causing muscle tightness in the shoulder and neck area. Gradually, people will experience intense pain, soreness, and point pain in the neck, shoulder, and upper back areas. In severe cases, muscle spasms can happen as well.
Over time, some muscles, such as suboccipital muscles, chest muscles, and levator scapulae muscles, become shorter and tighter while other muscles, like deep cervical flexors, erector spine, and shoulder blade retractors, become elongated and weakened. Thus, people with a forward head posture will have muscle imbalance and increase the risk for accelerated degenerative spinal changes, including disc degeneration, wearing down of facet joints, bone grinding against bone, and more. [4]