What causes that stoop in old folk where their head and neck are permanently bent forward?
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Are you asking why old folks are bent over?
Its called kyphosis, and its a number of things that cause it – fractures from weak bones (wedge fractures), discs that dehydrate and become deflated, and a lack of strong back muscles to hold a more upright posture. Because there is more weight in front of the spine than behind, all these forces tend to result in the spine curving forward through the upper thoracic (high chest) area.
poor nutrition, bones start to lose calcium.
[https://muschealth.org/medical-services/geriatrics-and-aging/healthy-aging/posture](https://muschealth.org/medical-services/geriatrics-and-aging/healthy-aging/posture)
[Spinal stenosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_stenosis) causes this type of posture, and it increases in prevalence with age, which is why you will see it in a lot of old people.
I have what’s called Anklyosing Spondylitis (AS), It could be this. Anklyosing Spondylitis is a form of rheumatoid arthritis that directly affects the spinal column. AS is an autoimmune disorder which essentially means that your immune system is on autopilot without an off switch; it doesn’t stop when it rids the body of all the “baddies”.
What this means is that it keeps working overtime and begins to attack the good things as well, specifically in the case of (AS) it attacks the spine and slowly fuses vertebrae. This eventually leaves the individual looking like a human sized question mark if the progression isn’t slowed. It results in a highly inflexible spine.
We have tools at our disposal now that weren’t available to older generations as well so some of these issues are much better for us to deal with than generations older than us.
Mostly caused by Osteporosis and is more prevalent in post menopausal women, used to be know as “Dowagers Hump”
After 50 you lose about 8% of your muscle mass every year if you dont consume enough protein and resistance train. When you get to weak your posture also becomes worse.
In addition to the answers already given, it could be bone spurs on the vertebrae. They press against other bones and prevent the spine from straightening. I think it’s caused by arthritis.
My mom stopped being able to stand up straight in her 60s. They had to go in and chisel off all the bone spurs. She had to do some PT because her muscles were weakend from being bent over, but she could stand up after that.
Muscle imbalance causes muscles in front to shorten resulting in the hunch.
If you don’t want that, work out on your muscles.
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