Help! I've been diagnosed with "Text Neck"

Have you ever had neck pain, gotten an x-ray and your chiropractor said "you have reversal/straightening of your cervical spine" or "you have Military/Text/Desk Neck"?

Basically what they are saying is that the curvature of your neck had decreased. However, through mis-interpreted information and reliance on anecdotal evidence, doctors will then link your imaging with your symptoms and say that until you "restore" the curve, you will have those symptoms for the rest of your life

This is false. There is no correlation between lack of curvature and pain.

The first scientific literature documenting "normal" curvature of the spine was around the 1950's. Gore et al in 1987 was the first to do a 10 year longitudinal observational study on over 200 patients and found that there was no correlation between clinical improvement and the presence of degenerative changes and change in lordosis. Other scientific studies came out since then which further proves no correlation between the curvature of your spine and pain

Also, no matter how many adjustments you receive and chin tucks you do, there's a chance your spine may never go back to it's normal curve. Do not be tricked by those who take repetitive x-rays to determine outcome. If you rotate your body and extend your neck at just the right angle, your secondary x-rays can look dramatically different

This post is designed to challenge various beliefs in the rehab community. At no shape or form is it to degrade chiropractors, physical therapists and other health care professionals. We have to do better in spreading positive information about the resilience of your spine and not use scare tactics to get patients to comply with treatment protocols

Cited:
Lippa L, Lippa L, Cacciola F. Loss of cervical lordosis: What is the prognosis?. J Craniovertebr Junction Spine. 2017;8(1):9–14. doi:10.4103/0974-8237.199877