4 Ideas to Fight Text Neck!
/I’m pretty sure most of us have experienced a sore neck from tilting our head forward too long staring into the endless barrage of text messages, emails and Facebook updates on our smartphones. According to the research firm Flurry, we are now spending an average of 2 hours and 57 minutes on our phones and tablets each day and dedicated users are spending 3 hours and 45 minutes per day. This is leading to an epidemic of chronic pain in both the older and younger population. Neck pain is now the third most common form of chronic pain impacting more than a quarter of US Citizens.
Humans were designed to stand upright. When our body is well organized our skeleton is providing a great deal of the structural support to keep us upright in gravity and our muscles are free to respond to any necessary actions. However, when we slump or bend forward our muscles are now constantly engaged to keep us upright against the gravitational force pulling us forward. This can reap havoc on your neck.
The average adult head weights between 10-12lbs and when stacked properly over the cervical spine the gravitational force is equal to its weight. However, as you begin to bend your neck forward it increases the amount of force that is being applied to your neck and back. According to Dr. Kenneth Hansraj, chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, with a 15 degree curve in the neck the head is equivalent to 27lbs and by the time the neck is bent to 60 degrees it’s equivalent to 60lbs.
Try this to get a feel. Hold a 10lbs weight next to your body for 15 seconds. Now, hold it at arm’s length in front of you for 15 seconds. It’s still 10lbs but you have to work significantly harder to hold it up. Your neck has to respond the same way each time you flex your head forward to check out the next text message.
So what’s the big deal? Well, you might at first experience some soreness and stiffness. This typically will go away on its own. However, if this patterning persists you’ll be prone to early wear, tear and degeneration of your cervical spine. You may develop bone spurs, ligament strains, spine degeneration and thickening of the tissue around the back of your neck in order to support the weight of your forward head. Luckily there are some steps you can take to reduce the impacts of using your phone.
Things you can do!
1. When talking on your phone use the speaker or a hand free device
2. Try holding your phone more upright in front of your eyes to reduce the amount of neck bend.
3. Take frequent breaks and don’t spend prolonged amounts of time staring down at your phone.
4. Do the stretches below to open up your neck, chest and shoulders.
a. Shoulder Pass Through- Use a PVC pipe or broom stick. Hold the bar in front of you with your hands wrapped around the bar with a pretty wide grip. Now keeping your spine neutral bring your arms up over your head and pass them behind you or as far as you can take it.
b. Neck Extension over a foam roller- Laying on your back place the foam roller underneath your mid back. Roll your body down the foam roller so that the roller is getting closer to your neck. Pinpoint areas on your neck that feel locked up and allow yourself to breath and let you neck extend backwards over the foam roller.
c. Back/Neck Extension with Exercise ball. Sit on the ball and then lay back. Bring your legs out from the ball with a wide stance to improve stability. Now release your neck and upper back into extension over the ball. You can bring your hands out in front of you to open up your shoulders and pecs as well. Breathe deeply and relax your muscles over the ball on the exhale.
