Published on 6 February 2024
If you are texting or reading this blog on your smartphone, pause and note your posture. Is your upper back hunched with your neck bent forwards? This posture is a sure-shot recipe for developing neck pain and precisely the position you should avoid.
Text Neck Syndrome due to Smartphones
Text Neck Syndrome is a recent entity. It occurs due to bent postures adopted while using smartphones over a long time. Most people get so engrossed while messaging that they unknowingly bend their necks forwards for hours at a stretch. The weight of the head falls unevenly on the neck. This results in physical stress on the neck and upper back muscles, ligaments, and bones, resulting in neck pain. Other symptoms like headache and eye strain are often present.
Neck Pain Prevention With Smartphones
Smartphones also be used to prevent neck pain. They can be equipped with wellness apps which give feedback on the amount of time spent staring at the phone. They can send reminders to keep the neck and back in a neutral posture. They can remind users to hold the phone at eye level. Reminders can also schedule gentle neck and upper back stretches.
Reference:
Kazeminasab et al. Neck pain: global epidemiology, trends and risk factors. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders (2022) 23:26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-021-04957-4
Yang, S.; Boudier-Revéret, M.; Yi, Y.G.; Hong, K.Y.; Chang, M.C. Treatment of Chronic Neck Pain in
Patients with Forward Head Posture: A Systematic Narrative Review. Healthcare 2023, 11, 2604. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11192604
David, D.; Giannini, C.; Chiarelli, F.; Mohn, A. Text Neck Syndrome in Children and Adolescents. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 1565. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18 041565
Abadiyan F, Hadadnezhad M, Khosrokiani Z, Letafatkar A, Akhshik H. Adding a smartphone app to global postural re-education to improve neck pain, posture, quality of life, and endurance in people with nonspecific neck pain: a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2021 Apr 12;22(1):274. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05214-8.
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