Upper Crossed Syndrome – What is it?

Your posture plays an important role in your overall health. Poor posture can lead to chronic strain and discomfort. ‘Upper crossed syndrome’ describes poor posture that results from excessive tightness in you shoulders and chest with weakness in your neck and mid-back. This combination forces your shoulders to roll inward and your head to project forward.

ChiroUp.com has an excellent analogy to help understand how upper cross syndrome causes trouble – think of your spine as a telephone pole and your head as a bowling ball that sits on top. When that bowling ball is positioned directly over the top of that upright post, very little effort is required to keep it in place. However, if you tip the post forward and the ball begins to roll over the edge of the post, significantly more effort is required to keep it there. This translates to your muscles having to work significantly harder to keep your head in position. These efforts result in chronic strain of the muscles of your neck and upper back.

The chronic strain is often uncomfortable and may lead to headaches, neck pain, upper back pain, and TMJ (jaw) pain. This postural problem is exceptionally common in office workers and students. We have been seeing a lot more patients with this condition at the clinic since the transition to working and learning from home due to the pandemic. Correction of this problem can be accomplished with stretching of tight musculature, strengthening of weakened muscles, adjusting of restricted joints, and modifying your workstation. Check out our blog on workstation ergonomics for tips on how to modify your workstation.