Expert: Gerald Anzalone, D.C. - 8/16/2008

Question
At 18 years of age, I was diagnosed by my chiropractor with Military Neck.

Now at 39 and with a new set of X-rays and a new chiropractor, I am told I have kyphosis.  He asked me if I had ever been in an auto accident - which I told him "no."

He told me there wasn't any degeneration of the disks and that it could be corrected with months of exercise and adjustments.  He gave me some exercises to do.

I was wanting to know if the kyphosis IS correctable, and if not, what problems I might be facing?  Also, is there a pillow that might help?  I have a temperpedic but it doesn't seem to do the job (i have both sizes and the medium is too small and the large is too big).  Thanks!

Answer
Barb,

To answer your question, allow me to briefly define some of the terms that have been offered to you. The normal curvature of the neck is called a lordosis. A loss of the normal curvature is called a hypolordosis (this is sometimes referred to as "military neck" when the neck appears straight and rigid on an x-ray). A reversal of the normal curvature is called a kyphosis.

Some proprietary chiropractic techniques (which, by the way, are not considered part of the normal curriculum of accredited chiropractic colleges, but which are taught at private seminars) claim to correct abnormal spinal curves, and the proponents of these techniques have published a copious amount of case reports showing that this is possible.

However, critics point out two problems of this approach:

First, there is no scientific evidence to show that actually correcting these curves (especially in the absence of symptoms that they might be producing) offers any clear health benefit.

Secondly, bones don't move bones, muscles move bones, so in my opinion, it's difficult to justify months of repetitive manipulation of joints in order to change bone position.

In my practice, for patients who showed a reversed or straightened neck curve, and who had symptoms, I often recommended a modified traction device that also induced extension (backward bending) of the spine to help restore a more normal curvature. You might consider using such a device, and save yourself the cost of months of spinal manipulation and possibly repetitive x-rays (of which many evidence-based chiropractors are extremely critical):

http://www.posturepump.com/1000.aspx

As for a pillow, I myself use a water-filled pillow which is quite comfortable, but pillows are really a matter of personal preferance.

http://www.chiroflow.com/en/index.html

I hope this answers your question.

Best of luck.