5 Ways to Help Prevent Neck Issues from Texting
“Text Neck” is a modern age term used to describe a repeated stress injury and a pain in the neck area that results from excessive watching or texting on a hand held device over a sustained period of time. Around 87% of children (14-18 years old) and 92% of adults (18-34 years old) in the United States own a cell phone. THIS IS A HUGE CONCERN! Why? Because we are all constantly looking down at our computers, tablets and phones texting, watching YouTube, looking at social media, etc. Because of this constant stress on your spinal cord you may experience not just neck pain, but also shoulder pain, upper back pain, headaches and increased thoracic kyphosis.
How do you prevent “Text Neck” from taking over?
1. Change how you hold your phone
Hold your device at eye level so your head is not slouched forward or too high. Instead, keep a neutral spine so your ear is in line with your shoulders. This will keep you from holding a forward-head posture for a prolonged period of time.
2. Take phone breaks
Frequent breaks from the screen can help, even if it’s just two to three minutes every hour. Set reminders on your phone or computer, or use a sticky note. These small cues can make a huge difference.
3. Try the Text Neck app
There’s a Text Neck app for Android that offers “immediate real time feedback” about your posture (indicated by a green or red light). There’s also an optional vibration or beep reminder to tell you when you’ve lapsed back into bad habits.
4. If you experience prolonged pain, see a pro
If you experience prolonged pain, get adjusted! Getting adjusted on a regular basis can help relieve pain and address the structural issues that text neck creates over time. And they might be onto something. A 2007 review pointed to chiropractic care as one of the major nonpharmacological therapies considered effective for acute and chronic neck and back pain.
5. Get up and MOVE
Going along the same lines of taking a break from your devices, you need to move! Doing 10 minutes of yoga or going for a short walk can also help! This will not only get you to put the devices down, but to help get you moving to support your spine and nervous system.
References
- Neupane S, Ifthikar Ali UT, Mathew A. Text-Neck Syndrome- Systemic review.Imperial journal of Interdisciplinary Research 2017;3(7):141-148
- Vate-U-Lan P. Text Neck Epidemic: A growing problem for smart phone users in Thailand. Proceedings of the twelfth internaitonal conference ofn eLearining for Knowledge based society; 2015 December 11-12; Thailand
- Toh SH, Coenen P, Howie EK, Straker LM. The associations of mobile touch screen device use with Musculoskeletal symptoms and exposures: A systematic review. PLoS One 2017; 12(8)
- Hansraj KK. Assessment of stresses in the cervical spine caused by posture and position of the head. Surgical technology interantional 2014
- Shar D, Mohandoss M, Ranganathan R, Jose J. Musculoskeletal disorders of upper extremities due to extensive usage of hand held devices. Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2014; 26(22)
