The emergence of smartphones has created a whole new medical phenomenon known as ‘text neck,’ the symptoms of which include neck and back pain. But can such a fun pastime damage your health, and are there long term effects of neck and back pain from texting. You may also be wondering – is texting damaging my spine? The answer may surprise you (read more).
It’s estimated that people spend about 2 to 4 hours a day texting, that means the neck is bent and the head and spine are out of alignment for long periods. Studies carried out by Dr. Kenneth K. Hansraj (published in Surgical Technology International); confirm that texting and bending the head to look down at your smartphone, puts additional stress on the cervical spine.
Texting and Back Pain
The human head weighs about 10 to 12 pounds, but when the head tilts forward even slightly to 15 degrees, the weight increases to 27 pounds. More weight is added, the further forward the head tilts. The excessive weight accelerates the degeneration of the spine, and causes pain in the neck and back.
Is texting damaging your Spine?
Yes it is, because of the forward head posture that you adopt when using smartphones. Having the head dropped down puts the curves in the neck and spine out of alignment. An increasing number of young people are complaining of pain in the neck and upper part of the spine, because of ‘text neck.’
In order to avoid these pitfalls, you should limit the amount of time spent texting. If you are already suffering from neck and back pain, check out Posture Pump products at www.posturepump.com, which can decompress and lubricate the spine.