Question
I recently discovered that my 15 year old daughter has a negative 22 degree curve in her neck... -22!  The chiropractor said things like, "I was not expecting this!" AND "I did not even know this was possible." AND "I've never seen a case this bad before."  I am, needless to say, very concerned!  I am a single mother of three; none of us have health insurance.  What is the prognosis for such a situation?  Have you ever heard of a similar story?  Can you please shed some light and/or understanding to our circumstance?  What can she/we expect for her life?

Her symptoms past and present:  chronic and severe fatigue, daily nausea (in between and during meals), headaches, abnormal menstrual cycle.

My daughter has never experienced any notable bodily trauma.  How could this have happened?!

Answer
Dear Jennifer,

First of all, lets talk about the -22 cervical curve. Normal cervical spine lordosis (neck curve, front to back) is about 30-40 degrees.  In your daughter's case, the curve is past 0 and is in fact reversed.

With no evidence of trauma, there are a few schools of thought on something like this. Does she spend a lot of time with her head down, like reading and writing, studying, etc? Does she sleep with more than one pillow?  Is she simply the same body/neck shape of her mother or father? Does she have any abnormally formed vertebrae in her neck, a birth defect that is causing the reversal of the curve? It is even possible that her neck issue is the result of a mid back problem, or lower.

I am going to assume that the bones in the neck are normal in shape and formation... and then let us consider the things that we can control. First of all, take away all her pillows, and purchase an orthopedic pillow. Have her sleep with it ALL THE TIME. No more conventional pillows. A good one is the Tricore Pillow by Core Products. It provides support both while on her back and on her side. She should never sleep on her stomach. Take a look at her posture during reading and study. Try and elevate the screens on computers, for example, and bring her books/reading materials UP to eye level. If she is like most teenagers, she probably has her head down and looking at a smart phone for several hours per day. She needs to do more things where she is looking up and out, not down.  

Instigate some exercises. Upright rowing, posterior neck glides, square shoulder shrugs are all a good start. She needs to work at drawing her shoulders up and back. If she is round shouldered, then the neck naturally reverses and she allows her head to transition forward.  Have her stand against a wall with her head, back, and heels all touching so that she can feel what good posture is supposed to feel like.

Regarding chiropractic... Adjustments alone of the neck, no matter the technique and frequency, will likely not change the curve much at all. Think of braces for crooked teeth. They are placed on the teeth and forces are gradually applied constantly over years to make changes to bony structure. How in the world could a simple instantaneous adjustment overcome chronic postural patterns and forces?  There are some chiropractors that use postural traction techniques. Here is a link to such a home use system:  
http://chiropractic-biophysics.myshopify.com/products/trucurv-home-traction-syst
Don't get into a program where you have your daughter adjusted over and over and over again without any plan to do some extension compression traction and exercises. As the link shows, there are some things that you can do at home to help. Google search Cervical Extension Compression Traction and look at some of the images of devices that are out there. They are usually quite simple, and might be something that you could make with things that you have around the house.  If you go this route, you need to be aware that there are some risks. Forced extension of the neck could, in very very very rare cases, theoretically be linked to some types of stroke.  Your daughter should be watched while she uses any type of extension/compression device and therapy.

Finally, some would argue that the straightening and reversal of the C spine curve is simply a normal human variant. I am not convinced of that... but must admit that I am not sure on that point. I do know that changing a C spine curvature is difficult to do and requires time, and that the most important aspects of the treatment program should be exercise and extension compression traction... not adjustment after adjustment.

The symptoms that you are describing might and might not be related to your daughter's reversed C spine curve. Take a look at your daughter's diet. Make sure that it is not made up of sugar, candy, cakes, pastas, rice, bread, flour products, and fried foods. Make sure that there is a lot of plants, nuts, fruits, etc in her diet, along with lean proteins.

As far as her long term prognosis: nobody knows. Some argue that a reversed or decreased curve of the neck will lead to premature degenerative changes in the discs and other parts of the neck joints. There are no studies that I am aware of that verify this.  It does make some sense, since the joints of the neck are types of machinery, and any machinery under abnormal stresses day after day has a tendency to wear more quickly than machines that are functioning as they should.

Take a deep breath, do what you can do. Do as much as you can at home. Don't get into a long term chiropractic contract that deals only with endless adjustments. That method, I am sure, is pure folly.

Good luck. I hope that this gives you some thoughts, some peace of mind, and some hope.

Keith Biggs, DC

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