In the case of this older person, it is likely that this condition began to develop many years before. For whatever reason, maybe simply due to bad posture, the person’s head began to move forward from the perfect balance posi­tion directly in the center of the shoulders. Somewhere along the way, any number of problems can begin to de­velop as a result.

For every inch forward from center the head moves, it adds an additional 10 pounds of weight that must be dealt with by the muscles of the upper back and the neck. These muscles now must work harder to keep the head and the chin from dropping forward on the person’s chest. Consequently, these muscles must remain in constant contrac­tion which puts additional pressure on the nerves at the back of the neck. The result can be the development of headaches at the base of the skull. For some, these can even mimic a sinus headache.

A chiropractor is the person to see in order to get this condition corrected. It is important to do this long before a person gets into their later years and the condition becomes difficult to deal with. A chiropractor will assess and deal with any subluxations (minor dislocations of the vertebrae) in the area. Additionally, work will be done to re­invigorate muscles the body uses to retract the head.

A new patient visiting a chiropractor may have a 2 inch forward (anterior) head placement. This forward head posture may or may not be very noticeable to the patient. This person probably has gotten rather accustomed to carrying the equivalent of a 20 pound watermelon around his neck. If this FHP is not handled in a series of visits to a chiropractor, the patient’s condition will continue to decline over the years.

One study points out how important it is to get this condition handled before old-age sets in. The Rancho Bernard Study was done with 1,353 participants who suffered from osteoporosis. The amount of FHP was measured in each participant. First off, it was noted that a higher percentage of men than women suffered from the condition. Of them, 44 percent of the men and only 22 percent of the women had FHP. It was also noted during the study that persons with FHP had a 1.44 times greater rate of mortality than those who did not suffer from this condition.

A person who suffers from frequent headaches, back of neck pain or tightness in the upper back area would be wise to have their posture checked to see where they carry their head in relation to their torso. If it seems like an FHP condition might exist, a trip to a chiropractor’s office would be a wise decision. A chiropractor can put the pa­tient on the road to better posture, pain free living, and in the case of FHP, possibly a longer life.

Source: Chiro.org. “What is Forward Head Posture?” http://www.chiro.org/LINKS/Forward_Head_Posture.shtml and “Hyperkyphotic Posture Predicts Mortality in
Older Community-dwelling Men and Woman: A Prospective Study.” October 2004.
http://www.chiro.org/LINKS/ABSTRACTS/Hyperkyphotic_Posture_Predicts_Mortality.shtml

The researchers were forced to reduce the number of participants to 114 from the planned 480. “Also, patients receiving metoprolol rather than Acupuncture were con­siderably more likely to discontinue treatment,” the authors stated. “Thus the recruit­ment phase of the study was ended prematurely after 114 patients had been random­ized.”

The headache study was part of a larger nationwide research project to study the effectiveness of Acupuncture for headaches, chronic low back pain, and pain from osteoarthritis. The methodology called for real Acupuncture treatments, “sham” or min­imal Acupuncture, and no treatments, as well as drug treatment in the case of the headache trials.

The results showed that, for all three conditions, Acupuncture produced a clear ben­efit that lasted for at least several months, and whose benefit was greatest in the osteoarthritis groups. In all three categories, Acupuncture proved extremely effective at reducing pain and inflammation compared to either traditional drug or other treatments, or no treatment at all.

The study was aimed at providing more information for the government to ascertain whether Acupuncture for these conditions should be covered by medical insurance. As a result, insurance in Germany has been extended to include osteoarthritis of the knees. Further research is planned in the other areas surveyed.

SOURCE: Acupuncture In Medicine, 2006; http://www.acupunctureinmedicine.org.uk/servearticle.php?artid=597

Now, a scientific study supports the use of “laser Acupuncture” as a very effective treatment for tension headache. Fifty headache sufferers were split into two groups, one group treated with standard low-energy laser Acupuncture, the other with the laser intensity set to “zero” so that the laser could not create any Acupuncture-point stimulation. The zero-intensity group had no way of knowing they were receiving placebo Acupuncture. Ten sessions were given, three treatments per week.

The study analyzed the variables: headache intensity, duration of attacks, and number of days with a headache per month. These were found by having the participants keep a daily diary, which was then assessed monthly for three months after treatments.

Statistics Validate the Effectiveness of Laser Acupuncture

There were significant differences between groups in changes from baseline in months one, two and three. The median score for headache intensity in the treatment group showed decreases of -5, -3 and -2, whereas the placebo group showed a decrease of only –1 the first month, and then no improvement in the second and third months. Duration of attacks in the treatment group were reduced by a score of -6, -4 and -4 again in the third month. The placebo group showed only a -1 in the first month, and no subsequent improvement. The number of days with headaches per month in the treatment group went down by -15, -10 and -8, while the placebo group had a -2 in the first month and no subsequent improvement.

Laser Acupuncture uses high-energy, focused laser light instead of traditional Acupuncture needles to achieve stimulation of Acupuncture points in the body. The advantages are that the laser is completely painless, whereas the traditional needle can cause a small but painful jab; and a small number of patients are “needle phobic” who are just plain afraid of needles. For them, the laser is the perfect answer for their tension headaches, or for the many other conditions for which Acupuncture has proven so helpful.

SOURCE: National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2005;
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=15844435