Do you lean over your cellphone as you text or read? If so, you’re part of an epidemic being called “text neck”.
Your head normally weighs about 11 pounds. Tilting it forward by only 15 degrees can put 27 pounds of additional pressure on your spine. Depending on how far you lean over, poor posture can create up to 60 pounds of pressure on your spine. This degree of leaning is in fact commonly seen in offices and on streets around the world.
Now…imagine all the times you check your email and Facebook every day with your computer or smartphone and how many hours that adds up to. It’s no wonder why most people experience pain and stiffness in their necks all the time! Text neck has become their habit!
This bad posture that we adopt as we stare at our phones causes excessive wear and tear that results in neck and back pain. If not corrected early, this may eventually lead to severe spinal degeneration. Correcting the spine (especially if the misalignment is already severe) is not impossible but can be difficult. Early detection and correction is a must to avoid worsening the problem.
Here are some tips that you can practice to fix text-neck.
When using a mobile phone: Try to look at your phone by casting your eyes down– without moving your head or neck. Keep your head up and your shoulders pulled back.
When using a laptop or computer: Make sure your eyes is level with the top of the monitor. If it is too low there is extra stress on your neck from always looking down. It’s the same problem with using a laptop. The best way around it is to place your laptop on a stand so it’s up front of you and then use a wireless mouse and keyboard.
These tips help maintain the healthy lordotic curve of the cervical spine. There are also some simple neck exercises that you can do to relieve the neck stiffness and maintain the cervical spine mobility.
If you think these methods are not enough to fix the problem and you or someone you know is still experiencing text-neck and its symptoms, please do not hesitate to talk to us. If you are interested in a holistic, patient-centered approach to spine, neck and posture correction, we are happy to help you with that.
If you are a new client to our practice, you can get 70% off our regular price for initial consultation. For details, please call our numbers at the top of the page or visit this LINK.