Text Neck

By Dr. Janine Pulley

“Text Neck” is a worldwide health concern that is affecting millions of people. Although this phenomenon has been around for many years before cell phones were even invented, it has clearly become more epidemic.

Your neck is designed to hold your head, which is roughly the weight of a bowling ball, all day every day. However, certain positions add more weight and mechanical stress to your neck – such as bending your head forward into flexion. When you repeatedly or continuously look down at something – your smartphone, iPad, laptop computer, or even regular old books – you can add a significant amount of pressure to your neck.

As you can see in the diagram above, looking down just 15 degrees can add up to 27lbs to your neck. No wonder you are getting headaches, neck pain, and back pain! Because your neck is not stacked up straight, the rest of your spine and all of the muscles have to work that much harder to hold your head up. When you do this multiple times a day or for long time periods, that can really add up!

Then if you add in other postural problems that are already contributing extra pressure, like forward head carriage or forward rounded shoulders, and it is not a surprise that your neck and shoulder muscles are always tight – it would be surprising if they weren’t!

Text Neck can be prevented by holding your devices and books closer to eye level, or to rest them on book stands that hold them higher on your desk. Doing so will minimize how far you are looking down to decrease the overall weight. Fortunately, your postural problems can be fixed by Dr. Pulley using the Advanced BioStructural Correction.^TM Between these preventative measures and treatment, you can correct Text Neck and prevent future recurrences. Call the office at 978-237-5106 to book an appointment today!

Picture of text neck from: https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/535625085793878017/photo/1