There is no doubt that smartphones are convenient tools that have made asignificant impact on behaviour and relationships, but doctors are now discovering that they can also impact your health. A condition known as ‘text neck,’ which was virtually unheard of years ago, is now prevalent among teens and young adults. So could you smartphone be making you have neck pain.
Neck pain has traditionally been a problem that affected older adults, but doctors say they are now seeing an increasing number of younger patients with neck pain.
Why is your smartphone causing you neck pain
It all has to do with how you look at your phone, and for how long. It’s estimated that 13-18 year old spend as much as 4 hours each day on their smartphones, and other mobile devices. For most or all of that time they are hunched over the screen, with their head in a forward position.
It has been clinically proven that maintaining a forward head position for an extended period of time, adversely affects the cervical and lumbar spine. When the neck is tilted forward several degrees it increases the weight of the head, and puts more pressure on the neck.
Dropping the head forward affects the natural curvature of the neck and strains the muscles. Over time, this can lead to the degeneration of the structures of the neck, resulting in neck pain.
What’s the solution?
Doctors recommend adjusting your posture, and moving your smartphone up to eye level when using it, to avoid the dreaded forward head posture.
There are also options such as Posture Pump products, which can relieve the neck pain associated with text neck. Posture Pump products restore the natural curvature to the spine, and decompress the discs.
Visit www.posturepump.com for more information.