Mississauga Chiropractor Explains the Dangers of Hunching 

One of the most common spinal misalignments or subluxations that I see in my office is a misalignment called hyperkyphosis (aka hunching). Hyper meaning over excessive and kyphosis meaning outward curvature of the spine and put together you have an excessive curvature of the thoracic spine. In other words, it means hunching of the mid-back. The mid-back runs from your shoulders down to your lower ribs. 

Hyperkyphosis may be aesthetically unpleasing to have, but what many don’t realize are the dangerous health implications of this type of misalignment. According to the study in 2004 by Dr. Kado in the Journal of American Geriatric Society, hyperkyphosis increases mortality rates by 2.4 times!⁽¹⁾ Why? The researchers aren’t fully clear on this yet, but there’s preliminary research showing that hyperkyphosis causes excessive stress on the lungs and heart which leads to earlier onset of death. Hyperkyphosis has also been shown to cause vertebral fractures which again in my opinion would affect the overall function of the spine and lead towards poorer health.

The good news? There’s a solution to correcting this type of postural or spinal misalignment. However, the reality is the longer this has been a problem, the longer and more effort it will take to correct it.

Correcting this type of posture requires two forms of care:

1. Chiropractic adjustments are required to help train the spine into its proper position
2. Exercises are required to help hold the new corrected alignment

As you could imagine this process takes effort and time.  My advice is to seek out a chiropractor that specializes in postural or spinal correction techniques. One of these techniques is called Chiropractic Biophysics. See photo below. If you look at the x-ray in the middle you will notice a before (figure 3) and after (figure 4) x-ray of this patient’s spine from the side. You will notice the reduction in hyperkyphosis by means of chiropractic adjustments and specific exercises.

If you are concerned about your hunching posture and live in the surrounding Mississauga area, we’d love to offer you a free consultation (905) 916-4325

1. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (Impact Factor: 4.57). 10/2004; 52(10):1662-7