“Text Neck!” Who would have thought that mobile phones could create such a common problem that it has its own term!
Texting has received a lot of criticism in recent years for distracting drivers causing them to harm themselves or others. But a far less public and condemned side effect of constant texting and other device usage is the fact that extended use of handheld devices can actually damage your health overtime.
While the use and technology of our mobile phones seems to be increasing so does our poor posture. The variety of tasks we can now perform on our mobile phones encourages us to stoop our heads, roll our shoulders forward and slouch while we surf the web or check out email. This poor posture puts additional stress and wait on the spine and muscles that are attached to it.
Text neck is the modern-day term for the more classical health condition known as Forward Head Posture. When forward head posture begins to develop and our head begins to move forward away from its balanced position, the weight of our head begins to increase.
This frequent forward position causes changes in the spine, supporting ligaments, tendons, and musculature. Long-term, it can put pressure on our internal organs and start to affect our breathing, digestion and even how we cope with stress.
Reducing the risk
To reduce the risk of text neck, start by trying to hold your phone at eye level as much as possible and try not to spend more than 20 minutes at a time on a phone or tablet.
It may seem difficult at first but there are usually much better things you could be doing with your time. You may think your whole life is on your device, but in actual fact, your life is waiting for you to come and join it!
