We use them all the time. Some of us can’t leave home without it. And more than likely you are looking down at one right now.
It’s your smartphone. But looking down at it all day long could be bad for your health.
The human head weighs about a dozen pounds. But as the neck bends forward and down, the weight on the cervical spine begins to increase.
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At a 15-degree angle, this weight is about 27 pounds, at 30 degrees it’s 40 pounds, at 45 degrees it’s 49 pounds, and at 60 degrees it’s 60 pounds! Imagine an extra 60 pounds on your spine and shoulders. Definitely unhealthy.
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That’s the burden that comes with staring at a smartphone — the way millions do for hours every day, according to research published by Kenneth Hansraj in the National Library of Medicine. The study appeared in April 2015’s issue of Surgical Technology International.
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Over time, researchers say, this poor posture, sometimes called “text neck,” can lead to early wear-and-tear on the spine, degeneration, and even surgery.
“It is an epidemic or, at least, it’s very common,” Hansraj, chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, told The Washington Post. “Just look around you, everyone has their heads down.”
How bad is text neck?
Imagine carrying an eight-year-old around your neck several hours per day. Smartphone users spend an average of two to four hours per day hunched over, reading e-mails, sending texts, or checking social media sites.
That’s 700 to 1,400 hours per year people are putting stress on their spines, according to the research. And high schoolers might be the worst. They could conceivably spend an additional 5,000 hours in this position, Hansraj says.
“The problem is really profound in young people,” he shares. “With this excessive stress in the neck, we might start seeing young people needing spine care. I would really like to see parents showing more guidance.”
Medical experts have been warning people for years. Some say for every inch the head tilts forward, the pressure on the spine doubles.
Tom DiAngelis, president of the American Physical Therapy Association‘s Private Practice Section, told CNN the effect is similar to bending a finger all the way back and holding it there for about an hour.
“As you stretch the tissue for a long period of time, it gets sore, it gets inflamed,” he notes. It can also cause muscle strain, pinched nerves, herniated disks and, over time, it can even remove the neck’s natural curve.
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What to do
1. Be sure you stretch throughout the day – Take a few minutes every couple of hours by moving your neck and shoulders back and forth in a circular motion to relieve stress.
2. Use reminders on your phone – You can use your phone to help you with this too! Set reminders throughout the day to look up, stretch and relax those stressed muscles.
3. Enjoy life – sometimes you just need to put your phone down and instead of taking that selfie or posting pics to your favorite social network, just enjoy life around you–in real-time.
