I disagree with pretty much every 'expert' of forward head posture i've ever seen

If they're not talking about the dental occlusion changing than they do NOT get it!

The youtube version

Lots of people talk about correcting forward head posture these days.

And some even claim to do it.

But I consider almost everyone i’ve seen who claim did it to be full o’ shit.

Which makes you wonder… how does someone spend an entire career trying to pretend to achieve something that they obviously are not.

To me it’s like the story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. They need to get really good at convincing their patients that some type of progress is happening when in reality nothing is happening.

Because they are missing the ingredient that allows you to hold your gains. Which is that you need to allow the occlusion to change for any permanent change in structure to take place.

Let me share some thoughts on this today.

What is forward head posture?

Forward head posture (FHP) is a condition where your head juts forward, creating an unnatural position that places extra strain on your neck and upper back. It's often called "text neck" these days because many attribute it to looking down at phones and computers.

The conventional wisdom says you develop FHP from poor habits like:

• Spending too much time looking down at devices

• Poor workplace ergonomics

• Weak neck muscles

• Bad sitting posture

• Carrying heavy backpacks

Medical professionals often say that for every inch your head moves forward, it adds about 10 pounds of pressure on your neck and spine. This supposedly leads to muscle strain, headaches, and various other issues.

How they say you should treat it

The standard treatment approach typically includes:

• Posture exercises and stretches

• Neck strengthening exercises

• Ergonomic adjustments to workstations

• Regular posture checks and reminders

• Chiropractic adjustments

• Physical therapy

These interventions focus on consciously correcting posture and strengthening the muscles that support proper head position. The idea is that by building strength and awareness, you can train yourself to maintain better posture.

I remember when I lived in Boston in 2017-18 and worked at a tech company… i’d estimate at least 50% of people would prefer to stand at their desks (at least some of the time). And everyone by default had a desk that could convert between a sitting and standing desk.

I consider that crazy. Where is the proof that this has helped even a single person correct FHP or prevent it?

I will tell you where. NOWHERE.

Because standing as opposed to sitting does absolutely nothing good for you. Except perhaps trick you into thinking that you are being healthier.

My ex-colleague and her standing desk

I remember this one colleague at the time telling me how a standing desk had absolutely improved her life by removing her lower back pain. But her neck was gone and in the months that followed I noticed she got sick about once a month like clockwork.

She hadn’t ‘fixed’ her postural issues.. she’d probably just evolved into a deeper compensation pattern.

When you truly ‘fix’ stuff… you can say things like I can. I haven’t been sick in 4+ years and operate like a machine that can work from 8am to past 10pm at 47 years old.

And do i care how i sit? No, i don’t give a shit. Because I know it doesn’t matter. lol

So keep those useless ass standing desks away from me!

There are thousands of gurus who claim to fix it

The internet is full of posture experts claiming to have the solution. Some popular approaches include:

• The Alexander Technique practitioners teaching body awareness

• YouTube fitness gurus with their "10-minute posture fix" routines

• Ergonomic specialists selling special chairs and devices

• "Posture coaches" offering online programs

• Various bodywork practitioners like Rolfing specialists

They all focus on external interventions - exercises, stretches, adjustments, or equipment.

Some claim dramatic results, but when they show their ‘proof’ all I ever see is a person that is using some mixture of different camera angle, light, or holding their body/head differently to make it seem as if there are results when in reality there is none.

When taking a selfie profile pic all it takes is moving your arm a few degrees further back and all of a sudden you will have magically ‘improved your profile. Except you didn’t. You just leveraged a basic trick of photography.

I think they're all pretty much wrong

From my experience and observation, forward head posture isn't about habits or muscle weakness - it's a symptom of biomechanical collapse. The root cause is the deflation of the soft tissue "balloon" that surrounds your skull and spine.

When the ‘curve of spee’ flattens, it triggers a sequence where:

• The soft tissue covering the skull caves in crushing the skull

• The jaw gets pulled out of position taking your profile with it

• The cervical spine begins to collapse and your neck gets shorter

The solution is surprisingly simple - wear something like a rubber mouthguard or flat plane splint that adds height between your teeth and doesn't lock your jaw in a fixed position. This allows the soft tissue to gradually re-inflate, naturally bringing your head back into proper alignment.

When you do this your ‘occlusion’ is constantly changing. And you are supporting those changes by wearing the appliance to sleep at night.

Whereas all the folks who are doing all this postural work but not wearing any appliance to sleep will constantly be reverting back to their old occlusion and posture.

It is very similar to what I described here with trigger point therapy:

Dental biomechanics vs. trigger point therapy

You absolutely need to raise dental height and keep the occlusion flat in order to hold gains.

Closing thoughts

When you do this biomechanical recovery process you realize what postural collapse is by reversing it.

You realize that basically all of the bones in your skeleton are twisted and held out of position. But what is holding it?

NOT just muscles.

It is lots of soft tissue (fascia, skin, etc)

And so if you’re just doing muscular work… you are not achieving anything because the soft tissue will send everything right back to where it was.

And i find that to truly change your structure you are at some point even going to have to break the skin. You’re changing all of the soft tissue of the body to now hold the bones in the correct position.

And it’s a gradual, slow process and one that will absolutely change your dental occlusion on pretty much a daily basis.

So if a postural ‘expert’ doesn’t understand how to hold gains via the dental part… they are most likely consistently achieving nothing for their patients.

Except perhaps putting them into new, deeper compensation patterns while tricking them into believing that they are doing better. When in reality…they are probably doing worse.

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