03/01/2026
What is a widow's hump?
A condition characterized by a growing hump in the area of the cervicothoracic junction. This deformity, also known as a cervical hump, buffalo hump, or fatty hump, is composed of fatty tissue.
Dowager's hump develops as a result of many factors. Among the most important are:
✔️weakness of the back and shoulder muscles,
✔️loss of flexibility of the spine,
✔️bad posture habits,
✔️lack of physical activity.
Symptoms of dowager's hump include back pain, difficulty maintaining an upright posture, limited mobility, and inability to maintain balance. The sooner a patient seeks treatment, the sooner they can prevent further deterioration.
Widow's hump can indirectly cause:
✔️headaches and chronic migraines ,
✔️tingling in the fingers,
✔️neck numbness,
✔️burning sensation in the spine and neck area,
✔️back pain,
✔️depression ,
✔️withdrawal and psychological discomfort.
It's worth remembering that it's completely physiological that the last cervical vertebra is the most palpable and visible part of the cervical spine. This doesn't necessarily mean you have a dowager's hump . This condition most often develops over years under the influence of cumulative factors. If you start addressing the problem today, it may go completely unnoticed.
People who perform monotonous work, e.g. office work, hairdressers, beauticians, dentists, will be predisposed to developing a widow's hump.
In the case of widow's hump, exercises consist of:
✔️increasing mobility in the neck and thoracic region,
✔️improving the strength of weakened muscles and ✔️correcting muscle imbalances,
✔️mobilizing the chest along with stretching the pectoral muscles due to the closed body posture,
✔️improving the functioning of the diaphragm ,
✔️increasing the muscle strength of the shoulder girdle and upper limbs.
The choice of exercises depends, of course, on the causes of the fatty tissue bulge at the cervicothoracic junction, as well as on the individual structural and functional problems of the patient.
