While the entire spine system, including the neck, possesses natural curves from the base of the skull to the sacrum (tail bone) it is not uncommon for people to progressively lose this curvature as they age. Because of this, some people seek the care of a chiropractor in an attempt to reverse this curve.
Cervical lordosis (curve with the concave side facing backwards) is the normal curve of the neck that develops in early childhood. Changes that occur to this curve, as evaluated on X-ray, are often the result of the normal aging process but may also be accelerated by poor postures. In some cases, people are born with a reversed curvature of the neck.
The loss of normal cervical curve is surprisingly common in patients who seek relief from neck pain, but it is often dismissed by healthcare professionals focusing more on life-threatening pathologies and less on findings which might develop into long-term chronic health problems.
An intact cervical curve is vital to proper spinal motion. Your entire spine will adapt, bend, and twist in a variety of different ways to compensate for what’s going on within your neck. If a problem in this area remains uncorrected, the spine will never function optimally. This can lead to degenerative wear-and-tear within the rest of the skeletal structure, and many times drive a person towards a life of chronic pain medication and surgery.
