Neck Pain and Text Neck Relief Tips - Prior Lake Chiropractor
What is Text-Neck?
If you would ask our great-grandparent’s if they have ever heard of this diagnosis before, you would probably get a blank stare. Technology has really changed life for us - mostly good! However, there is a dark side to technology. All the hours that we spend looking into our cell phones, tablets, and computer screens are taking a toll on our neck.
Text-neck Syndrome is a modern-age term used to describe repeated stress injury and pain in the head, neck and shoulders that typically happens from an excessive strain on the spine from looking in a forward and downward position at any hand held mobile device, i.e., mobile phone, video game unit, laptop, or personal computer.
Anatomy of Text-Neck
The human neck is also referred to as the cervical spine. The cervical spine should sit right over the shoulders with a normal curvature of 20-40 degrees. With time, we begin to lose the proper curve and our head begins to jut out more and more. Because the human head weighs approximately 12 pounds, for every inch you jut your head forward, you double the load on those muscles. Continuously straining your neck muscles and looking in a forward and downward position can place up to 60 extra pounds of force on your neck.
Symptoms of Text-Neck
Text neck can build with time and eventually lead to things such as headaches, neck pain, shoulder and arm pain, breathing compromise, and early arthritis in your neck. On top of that, text-neck can cause your shoulders to slump forward, which can reduce the capacity of your lungs to distribute oxygen to your body.
“It is an epidemic or, at least, it’s very common,” Hansraj, chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, told The Washington Post. “Just look around you, everyone has their heads down.”
Three tricks to feel better
Although the best advice is to reduce screen time, for many of us that is simply not an option. Here are three tricks to reduce the toll that text-neck is placing on your body.
Straighten up. Learn correct posture and neck alignment by having someone take a picture of you in profile. If you’re properly aligned, you should be able to draw a vertical line from your ear to your shoulder. Text-neck will cause forward head posture which places a lot of additional strain on your neck.
Arch your back. If your posture isn’t perfect, try doing shoulder exercises such as squeezing your shoulder blades together for 60 seconds. Simply open up your arms while arching your low back and looking up at the ceiling.
Look straight forward. As opposed to lowering your chin and looking down at your device, raise your screen to eye-level. If you have to raise your computer screen, an easy option is placing some thick books under your monitor.
Dr. Sharikov has successfully treated many patients with Text-Neck Syndrome. Over the years, he has helped them with restoring the proper position of the neck, as well as resolving related issues such as headaches, migraines, shoulder pain, and neck pain. Schedule a consult with Dr. Sharikov to discuss treatment options today!
