There is a huge chance that you reading this are probably holding your phone face down and looking down at it,
Your head is bent forward, with your shoulders curved, if this is you, you should probably sit back, put your head straight and continue reading.
Let us explain why holding your phone in this manner is probably a bad idea.
Your head (adult) weighs about 5kg, and sits on your neck which is made of bones connected to one another and stacked on each other, This arrangement is called the cervical spine
Ideally, the weight of the head should not cause any problems, but when you bend forward, the amount of pressure put on your neck bones can increase to as much as 27kg as the neck now has to support the weight of the head at an unnatural angle.
For every inch you tilt your head forward, you increase the pressure on your spine by almost double
According to a study by Hansraj, a spine surgeon living in New York, his study showed what happened to our necks and posture when we use these devices wrongly
Phones are not necessarily the offenders here, but rather how we use them, You want to be sure that your head is straight up when you are using these devices, it also includes iPads, games, laptops etc
Let us not forget that the average person uses their phone over 4 hours a day, that is a lot of time to hold the head at an unnatural angle
The Complications
When you put this amount of strain on the spine, you stretch it and it may get sore and inflamed
This can lead to
- Muscle strain
- Spine problems
- Nerve pain
- Pinched nerves
- Pain
The Way Forward: Prevent neck pain
We decided to share some ways to prevent this pain in the neck caused by hours of holding your device wrongly, this is called text neck and now very common among very young people
Here are some ways to prevent and manage this:
Hold your phone properly
Try holding your phone at eye level so that your head and shoulders are not slouched forward. Your ear should be in line with your shoulders, this helps your head maintain a neutral position and prevents neck pain
Take breaks
If you are on the phone for long periods at a time, You can take breaks every hour, for a few minutes, Set reminders if you have to, but consciously take breaks from your phones. We recommend that you set reminders every 45 minutes to take a break from a gadget, whether it is a laptop or phone or tablet, make that conscious decision today
Stretch
You can do what we call an exaggerated nod, how?
Tilt your head backwards and hold for a few seconds and then release, do this multiple times in a day when you feel the strain, also stretch your neck in either direction, a few minutes a day, front, backward and side to side
See a Doctor
If you are experiencing prolonged neck pain that is not relieved by these things, you should see a doctor to properly evaluate the reason you are having this pain in your neck
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Text safe
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