Two Crosses: One should actually never cross in life.

Cross Syndromes were described by Dr. Vladimir Janda , this can be of 2 types upper and lower cross syndrome.

Cross syndrome simply means one group of muscle are inhibited (weak) and the other group of muscle are tight (facilitated). This leads to imbalanced muscle use and bad postures which can lead to chronic pains in the body. This can happen at cervical (neck) level or at lumbar (low back) level , subsequently named as upper and lower cross syndrome.

Upper Cross Syndrome- This usually occurs when one spends a lot of time on electronics like laptops & desktops , excessive usage of mobiles, too much time studying or reading or too much of driving. This leads to pain at the back of neck and can lead to bad postures like forward head posture, hunchback etc.

Lower Cross Syndrome - This happens when you sit continuously for a long period of time without taking frequent breaks, or sitting with wallet in the back pocket , wearing very tight trousers or jeans, excessive usage of heels . Lower cross can lead to pain in back muscles along with imbalanced weight bearing on the legs.

Usually one suffers from one type of cross syndrome but continuous bad postures can lead to both upper & lower syndromes, which can be very debilitating.

Easy Solution - Stretch & Strengthen

Upper Cross

Stretch- Upper Trapezius, Levator Scapulae , Pectoral Major & Pectoral Minor

Strength- Lower Trapezius, Deep Neck Flexors & Serratus Anterior

Lower Cross

Stretch- Ilio-Psoas, Erector Spinae

Strength- Gluteus Maximus , Gluteus Minimus & Abdominals

*Chronic Effect- Cross Syndromes can ultimately lead to Malalignment Syndromes, you can read more about it in my previous blog on malalignment syndromes.