It is no surprise that we are addicted to our electronic devices. According to a study conducted in February 2021, Americans spend an average of 5.4 hours a day on their mobile phone alone and that number more than likely increased significantly over the last year. Because of this, more people than ever are experiencing Text Neck Syndrome (some people refer to it as Tech Neck Syndrome), a condition where there is increased tension/pain in the neck.
How Text Neck is Caused
For the majority of people when they are looking at their devices their heads are typically tilted downwards, shoulders slumped, and back hunched. This often forces the muscles, tendons, and ligaments to strain in order to hold the head up. Over time this can cause a myriad of issues:
- Increase neck and back pain
- More headaches
- Additional pressure on the arteries, veins, and muscles that travel from the neck to the hand causes pain and inflammation
- Premature degeneration of the spine in younger patients.
Text Neck Treatments
Stopping text neck and its effects on the body do require lifestyle changes. There are immediate things you can do but to truly alleviate text neck we need to be more aware of our bodies. Here are several things you can do:
- Stretching – make sure you are taking time to stretch the muscles in your neck and shoulders. This helps to alleviate built-up tension.
- Improve Your Posture – be aware of your posture when you are using your devices. A hunched back will cause strain on your muscles and spine.
- Hold Your Devices at Eye Level – this isn’t easy to do but keeping your devices at eye level prevents your neck from bending and promotes good posture. This will be hard when using a phone, but it is something to keep in mind when we are on our laptops. We often have our laptop screens at a lower position than our eyes, which causes us to tilt our heads to view the screen.
- Get Chiropractic Adjustments – regular chiropractic adjustments can help realign the spine and relieve pressure and tension.
- Get Routine Massages – massages help alleviate pain and tension that builds up in muscles. Getting them done regularly can help prevent lasting damage from text neck.
- Reduce Time on Devices – better said than done. The easiest way to prevent something is to not do whatever is causing the damage, but since we rely on our phones and laptops so much this is hard to do. Reducing the amount we spend peering at our screens can go a long way to alleviating neck and back pain.
If you are suffering from chronic neck and back pain, take the next step and schedule a health consultation and let us help you start on your path of health and wellness. We have an experienced team of health professionals that are passionate about helping people live better, healthier lives.
