We all love our smart phones. That technology has an unforeseen price though; Poor posture that might result in excessive wear and tear on the neck. Here’s some information on “text neck,” a new phenomenon brought on by smart phones.
- The average American spends 2-4 hours a day using smart phones. That’s about 700-1,400 hours a year. High School kids might even use their smart devices an additional 5,000 hours.
- Most people will bend their heads forward when using a smart phone. The bent posture places substantial added stress on the neck.
- The average head weighs 12 pounds. Bending the neck increases the weight of the head felt by the neck by changing the center of gravity.
- When the head is bent 15 degrees forward, it places a weight of 27 pounds on the spine.
- When the head is bent 30 degrees forward, it places a weight of 40 pounds on the spine.
- When the head is bent 45 degrees forward, it places a weight of 49 pounds on the spine.
- When the head is bent 60 degrees forward, it places a weight of 60 pounds on the spine.
- The sum effect of hours and hours of a bent head posture while using smart phones is that a tremendously increased load is placed on the spine by the head. The increasing usage of these devices means that this load is applied to the spine for a very significant amount of time on a regular basis.
- Placing such a load on the spine means that it will likely wear out faster. People will develop disc herniations, pinched nerves and arthritis of the neck joints, resulting in pain.
- A bent posture for such long periods of time has other effects too. It can diminish lung capacity by 30%, cause headaches and contribute to upset stomach and other gastrointestinal issues.
- One way to preventing text neck is to look down with your eyes instead of bending your neck.
- Exercising and stretching your neck by extending it, tilting it and rotating it every so often will help prevent text neck.
- If your neck gets sore, switch to a computer and adjust the monitor height so your neck is not flexed.
