Kyphosis

Your back is rounding. Your shoulders fall forward, the thoracic spine curves more than intended, your head pushes forward — as if you were ducking away from something. From the outside it looks like poor posture. From the inside it feels like a weight pressing you down.

Orthopedics describes kyphosis as an increased curvature of the thoracic spine toward the back — a rounded back. It distinguishes between structural forms, in which the vertebral bodies themselves are altered, and functional forms, in which musculature and habit shape the posture. Physical therapy, strengthening of the back extensors, sometimes a brace — these are the usual answers.

But there is another question. One that goes deeper than biomechanics: Why does a person curve? What is pressing them down? And what would need to happen for them to straighten up again — not just physically, but as a whole?