Text Neck & the Importance of Proper Posture While On Your Cell Phone

Our world is becoming increasingly dependent on technology. As we do, we spend more time hunched over our screens for long durations of time. We have all seen the memes and jokes regarding how much time we spend looking down at our phones. Pictures of dozens of people riding on the subway, peering down at phones or masses of people waiting to cross at a crosswalk, staring down at their handheld screen can be found everywhere. When you visit your doctor’s office, how many people are looking at phones in the waiting room? In a restaurant, how many people are engrossed in their screens instead of the conversations around them? This every day, widespread phone-obsession has created a new health concern: text neck.

Are You Serious?

Text neck is not just a cautionary tale. There are serious issues that can result from spending long moments continuously hunched over. Text neck can cause daily pains. However, it can also cause life-long damage to your neck and spinal column. And parents – text neck does not just affect your kids. Spending all day hunched over a computer at work can also cause text neck.

Symptoms

Soreness is a key indicator that you are suffering from text neck. As you continue to bend your neck into an unnatural state, you misalign your spine. The result of continuous misalignment, you can develop daily headaches as well as pain in the neck, shoulders, and upper back. Serious cases of text neck can even result in curvature of the spine.

Best Solution: Proper Posture

The solution to text next is actually simple. Proper posture not only helps ease the pains created by text neck, but can also outright prevent it. Obviously, reducing the amount of time you spend on computers and staring at your phone screen would be ideal. However, it is unrealistic. Taking a break and stretching your neck, back and shoulders throughout the day can help ease any tension in your joints that results from being hunched over. To prevent text neck, however, just sitting or standing with the correct posture is key. Sitting or standing upright, with your spine in neutral position and looking ahead reduces the risk of developing text neck greatly. If you are currently suffering from text neck, a visit to a chiropractor can help you heal. A chiropractor can not only realign your spine, but teach you ways in which you can correct your posture.