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Is Your iPhone Becoming a Literal Pain In The Neck?

Everyone knows that good posture is important to keep your neck and back healthy, but it’s just a little too easy to forget about sitting properly, when you’re involved in a particularly intense level of “Candy Crush” on your smartphone. As our society increases its use of powerful mobile devices, we are starting to see an increase in neck strain and injuries resulting from improper and prolonged use of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

This injury has been dubbed “text neck.” Technology junkies who regularly hunch over their devices are at high risk for causing permanent damage to their necks. The problem has a simple cause: when you spend a long period of time, staring down at a screen, it puts a strain on the muscles and joints in your neck. This can lead to neck and shoulder pain, as well as headaches.

Repetitive use injuries in the thumbs, fingers and wrists are other issues that can arise from frequent texting. What starts out as aches and minor pain, eventually leads to soreness and can eventually blossom into constant pain. Since our smart phones, tablets and laptops aren’t going to go away any time soon, what users need to do is recognize unhealthy postures and learn how to change them.

How to avoid “Text Neck” and other mobile device injuries:

  • Take a break - Listen to your body, when you start to feel cramped it is time to take a short break. If you find yourself “texting” a friend for hours, maybe you both need to put the phone down and actually spend a little time together face-to-face.
  • Stretch – Every now and again, take a break and stretch your body. Move your neck up and sideways to get out the kinks. You can also try rolling your shoulders in a circular motion to help relieve tension.
  • Hold the screen higher – This might seem awkward at first, but it will soon become a habit that will save your neck in the long run.
  • Keep your wrists straight – Holding your wrists and arms in the proper position can keep you from developing new injuries. Remember: if your wrists don’t work, you can’t play games! None of us want that to happen.

Talk to your chiropractic team about proper posture. Your chiropractor can help you learn how to relieve pain from these types of injuries. He or she will assess your symptoms and posture and provide you with excellent stretching and strengthening exercises to improve your posture. They may even give you a demonstration of the proper way to hold and use your mobile device. As these injuries become more and more common, it’s wise to learn good “techie posture” and to pass that information onto our families. 

Story credit: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/10/07/text-neck-causing-health-_n_999807.html?just_reloaded=1

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