After years of working at your desk and leaning forward at your computer, you notice a bump at the base of your neck, making you look years older than you actually are. You may have developed a dowager’s hump; a condition which gets its name from the slightly rounded hunch you might see on an elderly woman.

Kyphosis, the medical term for dowager’s hump, is caused by chronic hunching over; a posture that is very common with so many of us using computers nowadays. Over time, prolonged poor posture can cause an abnormal curve in the upper back and vertebrae, leading to the development of extra tissue in the lower neck area.

What Causes a Dowager’s Hump?

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the most common type of dowager’s hump is postural kyphosis. Think about this; the human head is around 11 lbs on average. Over time, poor posture, including rounding your shoulders and sticking your chin out, will lead to the muscles and ligaments responsible for holding the neck and spine in place to be stretched. This stretching eventually can pull the vertebrae out of its normal position, causing a round shape in the spine.

Other possible causes include:

• Scheuermann’s kyphosis – This type is named after the radiologist who first identified the condition. It happens when the vertebrae have a different shape.

• Congenital kyphosis – Congenital means a condition you are born with. People who suffer from congenital kyphosis were born with a spine that did not develop correctly prior to birth.

• Osteoporosis kyphosis – This is a compression fracture that causes the increased forward curve. It makes you drop your head forward more than usual, forcing you to pull your head back and up to see forward. This then causes the bump on the upper back.

Poor posture can result in a dowager’s hump

Movement specialists such as physiotherapists and physical therapists work with patients in a wide variety of ways to help relieve pain, restore and or improve functioning. Surgical rehabilitation, injury and illness are just a few examples of issues that can disrupt normal functioning and be helped by therapy.

The path to recovery is unique to the individual. However, one of the most commonly recommended methods when developing a treatment plan is therapeutic exercise. This well-researched and evidence-based method of treatment incorporates strengthening, stretching and mobility-enhancing exercise routines designed around each patient’s individual needs.

Lower back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek out a healthcare professional. Low back pain is one of the leading causes of disability we face. One of the possible causes of back pain is sciatica and sciatica nerve pain.

If you have suffered from sciatica, you understand how painful this condition can be. It’s important to understand what sciatica is, how it may present itself, and how a chiropractor can help through properly administered chiropractic care.

We know there are plenty of options for comprehensive chiropractic care. Knowing how to find a chiropractor in Vancouver that can offer the most professional, and inclusive treatment plans is the first step in your recovery and healing journey. There may be obstacles like the type of insurance a patient carries, accessibility, and of course location, that will impact your decision, but quality of care should be a top priority. That’s where we come in!

What sets Couve Health apart from all of your available alternatives? Our professional team of experienced musculoskeletal therapists and providers is here to offer the best therapies to help our patients recover from injuries and chronic conditions.

Whiplash is an injury to a person’s neck. Also referred to as a neck strain or neck sprain, it happens when a person’s head rapidly moves backward and forward with force. The impact from this kind of momentum can cause the soft tissues of the neck to extend beyond its typical range of motion.

After a whiplash injury, you should pay close attention to any physical changes for several days as symptoms do not always appear right away. Although whiplash is considered a relatively mild condition, it can cause long term discomfort and pain.