“Neck Pain and Texting”

“Text-Neck”

Is technology causing your neck pain?

At first glance, this is just a picture of girls looking at their phones.

Take a moment and think how often you, your family and friends spend looking down at a phone. If you are like most people, it’s quite a bit throughout the day.

We spend about 2 hours per day looking down at the phone, and teens alone on average send over 3,000 texts per month! That’s more than six per every hour they’re awake.*

While “text neck” has a catchy name, it has been researched before smart phones were around. We used to call this ‘forward head posture’, and it wasn’t quite as common as it is now. The average head weighs in at about 8-10 pounds. When you bend your head forward, the muscles along the back of your neck into the midback are being used in a constant state of contraction. This posture also decreases the space for nerves and arteries that travel along the neck.

Bending your head forward for a long period of time can lead to tingling and numbness in the arms, a burning pain between the shoulder blades, headaches, and a change in your posture.

Ideally, when standing your head should be over your shoulders and in line with your hips.

How does your posture compare to the picture on te left?

Have questions? Just ask!

Thanks for reading. If you have a topic you would like to see in future newsletters, just let me know!

Susan Loehrer-Bradshaw D.C.

Lone Star Chiropractic