Does forward head posture affect postural control in human healthy volunteers?

Proprioceptive afferent input from neck muscles plays an important role in postural control. Forward head posture has the potential to impair proprioceptive information from neck muscles and contribute to postural control deficits in patients with neck pain. This study investigated whether induced forward head posture affects postural control in healthy participants when compared to natural head posture. Centre of pressure sway area, distance covered and mean velocity were measured during 30 s of static standing using a force platform with 25 healthy individuals (mean age +/- SD = 20.76 +/- 2.19 years) in 8 different conditions. Base of support, eyes open or closed and natural or forward head posture varied within these testing conditions. The majority of comparisons between natural and forward head posture were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). This suggests that induced forward head posture in young healthy adults does not challenge them enough to impair postural control. Future studies should evaluate whether forward head posture affects postural control of individuals with chronic neck pain. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.