Monday, November 20, 2017

Wearing Your Shoulders for Earrings?

       
Are you "trying to wear your shoulders for earrings?"
     Sounds like a joke, doesn’t it? But there’s a very real anatomical basis for saying this, and it can cause a lot of trouble in the upper back and neck. 
     If you carry your shoulders in a “perpetual shrug,” holding chronic upward tension, and pain runs from your shoulderblades all the way up your neck, maybe also involving a headache, you may be doing this. 
     Particular muscles, called the levator scapulae, attach to the upper part of the shoulderblade, and to the vertebrae in your neck. If these muscles are on chronic contraction in a “perpetual shrug,” they become exhausted and painful. 
     This can be relieved by precise Activator Chiropractic adjustments of the underlying bones and joints, re-setting the tension in the muscles with the Activator instrument, and stretches and exercises at home. 
     In my office, I include ergonomic counseling to correct stressful postures that may be aggravating the problem.