Hi all of my wonderful TMJoiners! I’m Priya Mistry the TMJ doc and today I’m going to talk
about forward head posture. What is forward head posture? Why is it important? How does
it affect TMJD? Watch this video until the end for the answers to those questions and more!
That being said, if you’re looking for more information on TMJ Disorders for yourself or
for a loved one, then this is the YouTube channel for you. Be sure to hit that Subscribe button and
the little bell next to it to be notified when my next videos will be coming out!
Check out on my TikTok account - I'm new to TikTok - as well as my other social
media if you want to hang out with me outside of YouTube. Links are below.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a general dentist with a practice in Vancouver,
Washington where we are dedicated to taking care of patients with TMJ disorders.
So let’s get right into it! What is forward head posture. Well let's just first start by
defining ideal posture.. Ideal posture is when the ears, the shoulders, the hips and the feet
are all in line with each another when standing up. Forward head posture is when the head is
forward from that ideal. So let me demonstrate - this would be forward head posture.
Many of us have forward head posture because we're on our computers all day long or we're
on our smart phones or tablets and we just sort of start to hunch into that posture slowly over time.
Others of us have forward head posture because we are mouth breathers. Breathing through the mouth
requires that the tongue is low and back in our mouths. When the tongue is low and back like that,
that actually obstructs the airway - the air passage behind our nose and behind our
mouth. That becomes obstructed because the tongue is too low and too far back.
People who breathe through their mouths will compensate for this by moving the head forward.
They kind of over time get into that forward head posture. What that does is it brings the whole jaw
forward and therefore the tongue forward because the tongue is actually attached to this jaw bone.
So if that tongue is brought forward, that actualy opens up the airway - the
air passage behind the nose and the mouth. For more general information on mouth breathing,
please watch my video “Nasal Breathing vs. Mouth Breathing”, which I’ve linked above.
So what does all of this mean and how exactly is forward head posture connected to TMJD?
Well, my friends, every inch that the head is forward from ideal puts an additional
10 pounds of pressure on the cervical spine and the muscles of the neck!
Our head already weighs on an average - about 10 pounds. So if we're one inch forward from ideal,
that's 20 pounds of pressure on our necks! If we're inches forward, that's 30 pounds of
pressure and so on and so forth. The muscles of the neck do NOT react well to all of this
excess weight and excess pressure and this can lead to a lot of pain and dysfunction in the neck.
Additionally, the neck and the jaw are intimately related which I’ve said in many previous videos
and for information on that, check out my video “Neck Pain and TMJD”, linked above.
For these reasons, forward head posture can lead to muscle dysfunction in the muscles of the head,
neck, and jaw as well as dysfunction within the jaw joint. All of that can lead to a lot
of pain - headaches, neck pain, jaw pain, ear pain - as well as jaw joint noises - clicking, popping,
or even episodes of the jaw locking. I see this time and again so there is a definite connection
between that forward head posture and TMJD. So the question is - what can you do about it?
If you have forward head posture ONLY because of working on a computer or being on your phone or
your tablet all day long ,and you are certain you are NOT breathing through your mouth,
then you can likely work with a physical therapist to help correct your posture.
If you have forward head posture because you breathe through your mouth, this is a harder
issue to correct but it can be done. And there are basically three steps that go a long with it.
The first is to establish that you can actually breathe through your nose and to do this,
you may have to see your local Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor. Once you’re certain you can breathe
through your nose and there's not any obstructions in there preventing you from doing that, then the
next step is to correct your tongue posture. Do not attempt to do this on your own at home.
You can end up straining muscles which can then cause pain! Instead, you want to find
a provider who is skilled and trained in providing Myofunctional Therapy. If you have questions about
what myofunctional thereapy is, please watch my videos “What is Myofunctional Therapy?” as well
as my other video “Tongue Posture Dos and Don’ts”. Both of these are jam packed with information and
I think you'll get all your answers there. The third and final step once you've established
that you can breathe through your nose and once you've corrected your tongue posture so it's up
against the roof of the mouth instead of low in your mouth, then the last step is to see
a physical therapist to help correct the head posture and retrain the muscles of the neck.
So that’s really it my friends. If you learned something new or if you like what you heard,
click “Like” below, Subscribe to my channel, do all the things! As always,
questions and comments are welcome. Questions and comments are always welcome. I'd love to hear
about you - whether you have forward head posture or you learned that you did because of this video,
whatever you'd like to say. I try to get back to everybody. I can't always do it,
but I do my best. And remember, my friends, you can never have TMI about TMJ! Thank you!