Dangers of Rounded Shoulders and How to Fix Them

Published by Dr. C.J. DeFabio, D.C. | June 19, 2019

What are Rounded Shoulders?

The condition of rounded shoulders is when your shoulder alignment favors forward. Your upper back may round out as well, and your pelvis may be pushed forward, giving your head a downward, forward-favoring tilt. An example of someone with rounded shoulders is Mr. Burns from The Simpsons – hunched over with his shoulders and head jutting out in front of his hips.

How Do You Get Rounded Shoulders?

• Do I sit for most of the day?
• Do I text constantly?
• Do I cradle my phone between my head and shoulder a lot?
• Am I on my computer/laptop for hours at a time?
• Do I tend to look down instead of straight ahead?
• Do I feel tightness in the back of my legs and my butt?
• Do my neck and shoulders constantly feel tense and strained?
• Do I tend to focus on chest exercises and not back exercises?
• Do I skip stretching?

If you answered “yes” to all or most of those questions, there is a high probability that you suffer from some degree of rounded shoulders, but there are a couple of easy ways to know for sure.

Do I Have Rounded Shoulders?

There are three easy tests that you can do at home to determine whether or not you have rounded shoulders.

Knuckle Test: Stand in a forward-facing, natural position in front of a mirror. Don’t force yourself to take a stance that you think is “correct.” Just stand naturally. Look at your hands and determine which way your knuckles are facing. If your knuckles are facing to the sides, you should be okay. If your knuckles are favoring the inside and towards the front of your body, you might have rounded shoulders.

Chin Test: Stand in a natural position and have a friend take a picture of your side profile. Take a few pictures to be sure. Look at where your chin is. If your chin is up slightly and aligns with your chest, then that’s a good sign. If your chin favors forward and juts out past your chest followed by your head, this is a sign that you might have rounded shoulders.

Earlobe test: Stand in a natural position in front of a mirror. Your earlobe should be over the center of your shoulder while your shoulder is over the center of your hip bone. If your earlobe, shoulder and hip bone aren’t aligned you may have rounded shoulders.

The best way to know if you have rounded shoulders is to visit your family chiropractor.

Dangers of Rounded Shoulders

Having rounded shoulders can present real-life dangers for your long-term health.

Strain and Pain: The most common side effect of rounded shoulders and one you might be already experiencing is strain and pain. Rounded shoulders put a great deal of stress in the trapezoids, upper back, and neck muscles. The results at the lowest end are muscle aches, and at the other end, you might suffer from pain that needs medical intervention. Rounded shoulders can also promote headaches, which can easily ruin a productive day.

Headaches: Continuing with the point above, the tension from overused and tight shoulder and neck muscles can trigger common tension headaches. These headaches can then become more severe, leading to migraine or cluster headaches. If not directly, rounded shoulders can cause headaches indirectly. As detailed in a study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, rounded shoulders often promote a condition called forward head carriage. Again, this places a great deal of stress on the neck and shoulder muscles, which in turn trigger headaches.

Arthritis: Rounded shoulders and arthritis are involved in a vicious cycle with one fueling the other. The wear and tear that comes as a part of the behaviors that promote rounded shoulders such as constant smartphone usage and working at a computer all day trigger the inflammation that causes arthritis. Once arthritis begins to set in and the inflammation worsens, patients experience a dramatic decrease in the range of motion and usage of the shoulders. In order to avoid the pain associated with arthritis, patients will remain in a hunched, rounded shoulders posture.

Disc Herniation: We take for granted just how heavy our heads actually are. This weight is what the muscles and vertebrae in the neck must stabilize and move around with ease. For those with rounded shoulders, a domino-effect can occur. As mentioned above, rounded shoulders overwork the neck and shoulder muscles while weakening the chest muscles. Eventually, there is a forward pull of the head and soon your neck is overloaded. From this, it’s common for a disc herniation to occur. This is when the surrounding pressure pushes a disc out of alignment and on to a nerve. The result in severe pain that can become chronic, or lasting more than three months.

Degenerative Disc Disease: The same mechanisms mentioned above can also lead to a condition known as degenerative disc disease. Due to the poor posture of rounded shoulders, and potentially forward head, it’s not just your neck that is taking on all that weight; your spine is also trying to compensate for the overworked and weakened muscles. Eventually, this wear and tear can impact your spine, particularly the cervical spine, or area of the neck. This means the discs in your neck are on a fast track to breakdown, resulting in pain that can be severe, burning, and tingling. Some people even complain of numbness.

Degenerative Joint Disease: Also called osteoarthritis, degenerative joint disease is the result of overuse of the protective cartilage that surrounded the ends where two bones meet. What might start out as stiffness and an occasional headache can eventually become a limited range of movement and chronic pain. As we discussed above, rounded shoulders put unnecessary strain on muscle tissue, vertebrae, and joints alike, leading to high levels of inflammation which break down the cartilage and lead to degenerative joint disease.

Postural Distortions: Having rounded shoulders can promote postural distortions throughout the body. Remember that your body is similar to a chain-linked fence in that if something happens at the top, it’s going to be felt at the bottom too. Having rounded shoulders can increase your chances of developing conditions such as forward head posture, pelvic tilt, and knock-knee (inward facing knees).

Increased Risk of Serious Injury: If you have rounded shoulders long enough, you are most likely going to develop postural distortions, and this will dramatically increase your risk of injury. Postural distortions place your muscles in an uncompromising position where too much stress is being placed in one area. This will increase your risk for strains, breaks, and tears.

How to Fix Rounded Shoulders

Think you have rounded shoulders? Don’t worry! There are steps you can take at home to correct the problem. Being more aware of your posture and limiting activities that promote rounded shoulders such as texting and sitting for too long is a great first step. You can also perform the following stretches a few times a week to help correct the issue.