The majority of us, without realizing it, walk and sit slightly slumped. Very few of us prance around with a perfect posture. Thanks to the popularity of smartphones and other mobile devices, we are slouching more than ever. Most smartphone users spend 2–4 hours per day hunched over “socializing” with their friends and colleagues. This adds up to 700 to 1,400 hours of stress annually on the fragile and intricate spine. Tech-obsessed readers of Forbes magazine were given a good depiction of the problem:
“Most people have a tendency to tilt down their neck while sending and reading text messages. While standing at a neutral state, the force to the cervical spine is about ten to twelve pounds — which is the weight of the average human head. The force to the cervical spine increases as the neck moves forward at different angles. The force increases by about 27 pounds at a 15-degree angle, 40 pounds at a 30-degree angle, 49 pounds at a 45-degree angle and 60 pounds at a 60-degree angle. The poor posture — which is known as ‘text neck’ — may cause degeneration of the spine.”
Kenneth Hansraj, chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, observes:
“Loss of the natural curve of the cervical spine leads to incrementally increased stresses about the cervical spine. Your spine is at its happiest when your ears fall on the same plane as your shoulders, and your shoulder blades are retracted. Without these adjustments, you put added stress on your spine. These stresses may lead to early wear, tear, degeneration, and possibly surgeries.”
Dr. Ezriel Kornel, a neurosurgeon with Brain & Spine Surgeons of New York in White Plains, explains that the damage incurred will not be immediately noticeable, but the wear and tear will have consequences over time. He advises:
"If you're not going to text less, you have be aware of the way you position yourself vis-à-vis your smart phone. Awareness is the number-one thing. Ideally, you'd want to keep the phone or tablet at a higher level, so you're not bending your head down every time you look at the screen.”
Kevin Slates, the Director of Occupational Health and Safety Laboratory at Indiana University in Bloomington, is concerned with the heavy backpacks many students lug around. The Consumer Products Safety Commission estimates that annually almost 5,000 students make an emergency room visit because of heavy bag injuries. Slates cautions:
"A load of books or materials, distributed improperly or unevenly, day after day, is indeed going to cause stress to a growing spinal column and back. The old adage, 'As the twig is bent, so grows the tree,' comes to mind. We are seeing a growing concern about the improper use of backpacks and the relatively scarce amount of preventive information available to young people.
"Students attending primary and secondary schools are more susceptible to these disorders because their bodies are developing faster. Females are even more susceptible because of the physiological demands on their bodies. But body mass and the weight of the back pack plays a role. If she weighs 120 pounds and is carrying a 25-pound backpack, it places a huge burden on her musculoskeletal system."
Slates gives 7 helpful suggestions at the Indiana University site: http://newsinfo.iu.edu/web/page/normal/6075.html
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Constantly Staring At Your Phone Is Bad For The Spine, Says Study http://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2014/11/21/constantly-staring-at-your-phone-is-bad-for-the-spine-says-study/
‘Text neck’ is becoming an ‘epidemic’ and could wreck
your spine https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/20/text-neck-is-becoming-an-epidemic-and-could-wreck-your-spine/
Texting Is Like Carrying An 8-Year-Old Child On Your
Spine: Risky http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/1431/20141119/texting-carrying-8-year-old-child-spine-risky-study.htm
Posture Power: How To Correct Your Body’s Alignment http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/posture-power-how-to-correct-your-body-alignment.html
The TRUTH about Standing Desks http://www.sittingsolution.com/the-truth-about-standing-desk/
Jerry De Luca is a Christian freelance writer who loves perusing dozens of interesting and informative publications. When he finds any useful info he summarizes it, taking the main points, and creates a (hopefully) helpful blog post.
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