Text Neck: Is Smartphone Use Causing Your Neck Pain?
Virtually unheard of two years ago, “text neck” is a repetitive strain injury that’s becoming more common as more people hunch over smartphones. Aggravating muscle pain in the neck and shoulders, and back.
A load of hurt
How can using a smartphone or other mobile device cause so much hurt? It’s all in how you look at it. Literally. Looking down, dropping your head forward, changes the natural curvature of your neck. Over time, that misalignment can strain muscles and cause wear and tear on the structures of the neck.
According to the way we’re built, three things happen when you drop your head:
- Your neck moves forward.
- Your shoulders round forward or lift up toward your ears.
- Your neck and shoulder muscles spasm (contract).
“Neck muscles, in their proper position, are designed to support the weight of your head, about 10 to 12 pounds, research shows that for every inch you drop your head forward, you double the load on those muscles. Looking down at your smartphone, with your chin to your chest, can put about 60 pounds of force on your neck.”
Besides muscle pain, text neck can cause a host of other health concerns. Sitting in a slumped position restricts your lungs’ ability to expand, impairing your lung capacity. Inhaling less oxygen means your heart needs to pump harder to distribute more oxygen-carrying blood through your body.
Text Neck is something if you are experiencing can be fixed.
Here are our top suggestions.
- Get a massage for pain relief
- Change your habits, lift your chin
- Stretch
By engaging with all 3 you will stop Text Neck. If you need any help around this in the workplace contact 1300 662 022.