Leaning Back Can Lock Your Neck
Many of us lean to one side when we sit on the couch, at the desk, in the car, and even in the bed. Here is the most important rule you must follow to reverse your thoracic outlet syndrome. When sitting anywhere (car, couch, bed), you cannot allow your back to touch the seat back. If you do, your spring has drifted outside perpendicular, causing the sensory system stimuli to trigger a muscle contraction to try to right the head to perpendicular.
One of the most critical mistakes patients make to cause TOS is watching television or reading, while leaning back on the couch or in bed propped against the headboard.
A telltale sign is when patients will go to bed with minimal or no symptoms and wake in the morning with symptoms (3). This indicates to me that the cause of these conditions is definitely involved with sleep positions or activity that strained the muscles of the neck right before bedtime, such as leaning back in the bed watching TV or reading a book.
One patient argued with me and said that this couldn’t be the case, because he didn’t watch TV that long while in bed, and he was practically straight. Of course, he was just rationalizing, because he enjoyed watching TV in bed and didn’t want to give it up. So, I asked him how long he watched TV, and he told me 30 minutes.
I handed him a 10-pound weight. “Now bend your arm and hold the weight in this position for a while, as I treat a patient.” In about five minutes, he asked to put it down, due to muscle fatigue and burning pain.
The average head weighs 9–12 pounds. So, why wouldn’t you expect to develop trigger points and super contractions in your scalene muscles when you are asking them to have a sustained contraction attempting to hold the 9–12-pound weight in a position outside perpendicular for more than a few minutes?
I can almost predict with 100 percent accuracy not only the way they lean when they sit, I can also predict on which side of the body the thoracic outlet syndrome will be worse.
This is an excerpt from a chapter in Dr Stoxen’s #1 best seller The Human Spring Approach to Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. The book is available on Amazon.com in these 13 counties US UK DE FR ES IT NL JP BR CA MX AU IN on Kindle. The book is available on Amazon.com in these 7 counties US UK DE FR ES IT JP in paperback.
Dr James Stoxen DC., FSSEMM (hon) He is the president of Team Doctors®, Treatment and Training Center Chicago, one of the most recognized treatment centers in the world.
Dr Stoxen is a #1 International Bestselling Author of the book, The Human Spring Approach to Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. He has lectured at more than 20 medical conferences on his Human Spring Approach to Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and asked to publish his research on this approach to treating thoracic outlet syndrome in over 30 peer review medical journals.
He has been asked to submit his other research on the human spring approach to treatment, training and prevention in over 150 peer review medical journals. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Orthopedic Science and Research, Executive Editor or the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care, Chief Editor, Advances in Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Journal and editorial board for over 35 peer review medical journals.
He is a much sought-after speaker. He has given over 1000 live presentations and lectured at over 70 medical conferences to over 50,000 doctors in more than 20 countries. He has been invited to speak at over 300 medical conferences which includes invitations as the keynote speaker at over 50 medical conferences.
After his groundbreaking lecture on the Integrated Spring-Mass Model at the World Congress of Sports and Exercise Medicine he was presented with an Honorary Fellowship Award by a member of the royal family, the Sultan of Pahang, for his distinguished research and contributions to the advancement of Sports and Exercise Medicine on an International level. He was inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Personal Trainers Hall of Fame in 2012.
Dr Stoxen has a big reputation in the entertainment industry working as a doctor for over 150 tours of elite entertainers, caring for over 1000 top celebrity entertainers and their handlers. Anthony Field or the popular children’s entertainment group, The Wiggles, wrote a book, How I Got My Wiggle Back detailing his struggles with chronic pain and clinical depression he struggled with for years. Dr Stoxen is proud to be able to assist him.
Full Bio) Dr Stoxen can be reached directly at teamdoctors@aol.com
