“Military Neck”

Military schools across the nation are notorious for telling their new cadets to pull back/tuck their chin. It’s difficult to tuck your chin, pull in your stomach while it’s up against the edge of the table, and look straight ahead while eating your three squares a day. Eating at the position of Attention.

Three Squares (a meal): take a scoop of food on your fork, move the fork straight up above your plate, directly across from your mouth and move it straight to and into your mouth. You follow the same path, put your fork down and then chew.

The problem that this position, your tucked chin, creates, is what the medical world calls, “Military Neck”. It can cause issues for the people who have it. In the picture below, my neck looks just like the one on the right. This could be a problem for all kinds of current and former cadets.

An excerpt from neckcolutions.com:

Does Military Neck Hurt?

No, not always. A neck can be straightened without neck pain symptoms, however, a military neck is often noted with muscle spasm which pulls on the spine. This is often seen after a whiplash injury from an accident and is primarily seen on x-rays. A military neck may be related to stiff neck muscles, headaches related to neck problems and restricted or painful motion.

What Can Help Military Neck?

Correcting a military neck is a long-term process, there are simply no quick fixes. Similar to wearing braces on your teeth, making changes to the curve of the cervical spine takes time. One thing is certain, as a postural problem, it will not magically fix itself. A combination of 3 methods can provide solutions for improving a military neck, as well as the health of your cervical spine.

To find out more about this condition and its treatment click here to go to necksolutions.com.

I urge all military schools to reconsider or, at least, research enforcing this position for the health of their cadets.