Being upright frees our hands for all the tasks we demand of them, but the challenges it places on your body’s structures are great. One major challenge is how to leverage force in the upper body when there aren’t a lot of bones in the neck. This may not seem like it’s a big deal (we’re not bench pressing with our neck), but just supporting the head and performing normal tasks like chewing and swallowing take a surprising amount of effort. And that effort is multiplied when we do things like bend our head down to look at our smartphones a lot.
Your jaw plays an important role in helping stabilize the muscles of the head and neck. As a large, stable bone platform, it provides attachments for head and neck muscles that perform a variety of roles in the function of your upper body. Most of the time, you won’t notice the role of your jaw in upper body tasks, though you might notice your jaw clenches when you lift heavy weights or otherwise exert your upper body strength.
But when your
jaw is out of balance, it can throw off the balance in your neck muscles. Your neck muscles may find themselves recruited into helping jaw muscles perform their tasks, including stabilizing the head, chewing, and swallowing. When this happens, your neck muscles can become strained and your neck may tilt as a result.