THE SCIENCE BEHIND ASTRALIGN

Did you know? ∙

- Ten pounds are added to to your head weight for every inch it tilts forward?

- The average human head weighs around 8-12 pounds.

- So, just a mere 2 inches can increase the weight by 20 pounds!

- A head tilted at a 30 degree angle puts 60 POUNDS of pressure on the midback. 

Twenty years of research in the physical therapy field helped me pinpoint the critical source of posture problems – KYPHOSIS.  

Kyphosis is an exaggerated curve in the mid-spine brought about by improper posture and made worse by modern day activities such as texting, driving, office work and gaming which pull us forward and, without proper support, can lead to chronic Kyphosis. 

While posture supports in chairs and car seats focus on lower back and neck, my research discovered that with mid-back alignment (Throacic) the neck and low back correct themselves without need for any other support. 

I set out to design a pillow that provides a gentle amount of forward and upward thrust to the mid-back and by doing so also puts the neck and lower back in alignment.  

Proper posture is vital and using the Astralign, simply by placing your muscles in the right position, can help train you to achieve that when you’re not using it as well. No harness straps or sticky buzzers needed!  

While the face of the pillow matches the contours of the back, the side wings hug the ribs in a light embrace providing weight dispersal so your back muscles never fatigue and the feel is ultra-comfort, which can reduce G-forces when cornering and reduce vehicle vibration.  

Current chairs and car seats, even the most high-end, focus exclusively on the lower lumbar. Even worse, they both tend to push the shoulders forward. This is leads to a collapsed mid-back alignment and make the head tilt forward. 

This is serious business: Most heads weigh between 8 to 12 pounds – every inch your head moves off axis it gains an additional 10 lbs of gravitational weight.  Beyond the stress this puts on the neck and shoulder muscles, improper head positioning if unattended will lead to degenerative changes in the spine. 

Also and perhaps in the long run most damaging is that Kyphosis collapses the front (floating) ribs down into the abdominal cavity putting pressure on the heart and other internal organs and restricting the amount of room the diaphragm has to expand – thus restricting optimal oxygen infusion into to the body. 

It’s never too early to instill these habits in kids. I made a child’s size version that they can attach to their homework chair or place behind them on the couch to make sure they sit right. And while it provides alignment it’s so comfortable they’ll forget it’s even there.

Here’s what Dr. Tarek Adra, a leading doctor in sports medicine has to say about the Astralign: