From texting to poor posture, your neck takes a lot of abuse.

My colleague Carl Nottoli at Functional Spine and Sport says that, “poor postures load the discs in our spine 300% more than healthy upright postures.”

Our spinal discs are meant to be shock absorbers and once they’re damaged, “our nerves can become pinched and our joints begin to compress causing chronic pain,” says Nottoli.

Poor posture can lead to the development of muscle adhesions that end up creating more stress on the internal structures of your spine (vertebrae and discs).

So, how do you know if you’re suffering from muscle adhesions in your neck?

Functional Spine and Sport has a simple range of motion test that you can do yourself:

First start with your heels, butt, shoulders, and back of the head against a wall. If you can’t do this initially you have already failed the test. Then with your jaw line parallel to the floor, move your chin in and slightly down toward your neck making a double chin–your head should slide up the wall without losing contact. If you can barely move or you have pain then you fail the test. Finally, as the picture shows below, your chin should easily touch your collar bones without pain or strain. If you cannot touch or you overshoot your collar bones, you have failed the test.

Here’s a picture of how a healthy neck should function:

Adhesion can be treated and reversed, click here to schedule an appointment today.