Is Your Head on Straight? Improve Your Parkinson’s Stooped Posture!

Forward head posture (FHP) is a common Parkinson’s symptom where your head is positioned forward in front of your body’s vertical midline. Neutral head posture is when your ears line up with your shoulders and midline. FHP can cause neck pain, stiffness, an unbalanced gait, and other side effects. It’s also often associated with rounded shoulders and stooped posture.

The weight of your head on your spine increases from about 10 pounds in the neutral position to a whopping 49 pounds when your head is hunched forward at a 45-degree angle. If your head is protruding forward, the muscles in the front of your neck get shorter and tighter, and those at the back of your neck get longer and weaker.

Other side effects of forward head posture may include:

• Reduced respiratory function

• Increase in forward falls

• Chronic neck and back pain

• Decreased range of neck motion

• Headaches

• Jaw pain

The Moose Antler Exercise is a great exercise to counteract the forward pulling of your head and neck, and it’s easy to do. Watch my video below to find out how to do it!

You don’t need any equipment to get started. You can do this seated or standing.

• Sitting or standing tall, stick your thumbs in your ears and flare your fingers up like moose antlers.

• Wrap your fingers around the back of your head; this creates an axis which your skull can pivot around.

• Pull your head straight up and back using your thumbs and fingers to create a “tallness” feeling. To open your chest and correct your posture even more, pull your bent elbows out straight. This alone can relieve neck pain.

• Slightly nod your chin down, but make sure you can still swallow.

• You can increase the stretch by pulling your shoulders back.

• Hold in this stretch position for five seconds and release. Repeat two more times.

You can do this exercise throughout the day, especially when taking breaks while watching TV or working on a computer.

It counteracts the forward pulling posture created by Parkinson’s. Try it—you will feel a great stretch right away.

💜 Coach Kimberly