Chances are, many of you are reading this blog from your smartphone. And those that aren’t, are viewing it while staring at a computer screen. In our modern world, most of us spend our days with our heads slumped over a screen– whether for work or social purposes or boredom. On average, people spend 2-4 hours each day with their necks bent at this incredibly unnatural angle while sending emails, texts, or working on their computer. That’s 700-1,400 hours a year that your neck is spending out of whack.
The average adult head weighs between 10 and 12 pounds when it is in the neutral position, but due to physics and gravitational pull, the cranium becomes heaver the more your neck bends. As the head tilts forward, the forces felt by the neck soar to 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!
All of this force is damaging the natural curve of the cervical spine. This leads to spinal stress, and early wear, tear, degeneration of the spine. People who have poorer posture often have poorer physical and emotional health. Medical problems range from chronic pain to allergies, headaches to depression, constipation to heart disease, and everything in between.
So what can you do to combat the text neck phenomenon? According to Dr. Dee from Healing Hands Chiropractic, here are 5 tips to help you reverse “text-neck!”
If you are experience discomfort or spend quite a bit of time in front of a screen, give our office a call today. We would love to evaluate you to see how we can help!