What is Upper Crossed Syndrome?
June 29, 2009 by Spencer
Filed under Chiropractic 101
Tight vs weak muscles in upper crossed syndrome
Upper crossed syndrome, also known as “student syndrome” or “corporate syndrome”, is a pattern of tight and weak muscles the body develops based off of one’s postural tendencies just like lower crossed syndrome. The most common trait for someone with upper crossed syndrome is tight upper traps (a muscle in between the edge of your shoulder and your neck) and sometimes right at the back posterior base of your skull. This is a very common occurrence in today’s population. In fact, there is a good chance that even YOU have it!
The people this effects the most are those that sit all day, usually in front of a computer or at a desk. This is why it’s called student or corporate syndrome! Due to poor ergonomics, most people in these situations either find themselves leaning over a desk to read, or hunched at a computer typing all day. If you don’t believe me, stroll down your work aisle or school library and take a look. In order to maintain this unnatural position, the body has to continually contract certain muscles. If you think about a muscle’s length when it is (concentrically) contracting, it gets shorter. If you hold that contracted position for long enough, the muscle will actually remain shorter, resulting in tight muscles.
This isn’t all though…think about the other muscles that you are NOT using in holding these positions. The musculature of the human body is an amazing example of balance. When one muscle is working, the opposite muscle is generally not. This is called reciprocal inhibition. In many cases, the opposite muscle is actually stretching. Think about your biceps for example. If you are lifting something really heavy such as a dumb bell for example, your biceps has to contract to lift it. Your triceps, the antagonist or opposite muscle, does not work when lifting the dumb bell and you may actually feel it getting stretched at the very end of your biceps curl. With the continual stretching and overall lack of use, the muscles opposite to the ones doing all of the work will eventually stretch out and get weak. This can lead to a whole new swing of body aches and make it harder to attain proper posture.
Notice the anterior head carriage on the right: the ear is supposed to be directly above the shoulder
This is why people with upper crossed syndrome have tight shoulders and base skull muscles. Given the tightness of these muscles, these people will also tend to have anterior head carriage, also known as forward head carriage, a position where the center of their head is far more in front of their body then the center of their body. The muscles most likely to be tight on a person with upper crossed syndrome include:
- Upper trapezius
- Sub occipital
- Deep neck extensors
- Pectoralis major
- Levator scapuli
The muscles that tend to be weak or lengthened include:
- Rhomboids
- Middle and lower trapezius
- Deep neck flexors
How to treat upper crossed syndrome
What is lower crossed syndrome?
what are some forms of treatment such as streching, massage or stengthening excersizes?
I am a DC (Doctor of Chiropractic) and I see UCS all the time. I have patients that usually present with 2 main chief complaints, neck pain or shoulder pain, and sometimes both. I use adjusting, trigger point therapy, and exercise to help this. The adjustment helps the joint (bones) move easier and trigger point therapy to help remove the ‘knots’ from the sore and tight muscles. Once the joints and muscles are moving freely then I start to strengthen and stretch certain muscles to bring upper back, shoulders, and neck into balance. I hope this helps.