Leaning forward during phone use may cause 'text neck'

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Leaning forward during phone use may cause 'text
neck By Carolyn Crist

• (Reuters Health) - Spine surgeons are noticing
  an increase in patients with neck and upper back
  pain, likely related to poor posture during
  prolonged smartphone use, according to a recent
  report.
• Some patients, particularly young patients who
  shouldnt yet have back and neck issues, are
  reporting disk hernias and alignment problems,
  the study authors write in The Spine Journal.
• In an X-ray, the neck typically curves
  backward, and what were seeing is that the curve
  is being reversed as people look down at their
  phones for hours each day, said study coauthor
  Dr. Todd Lanman, a spinal neurosurgeon at
  Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

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• By the time patients get to me, theyre
  already in bad pain and have disc issues, he
  told Reuters Health. The real concern is that we
  dont know what this means down the road for kids
  today who use phones all day.
• Lanman and co-author Dr. Jason Cuellar, an
  orthopedic spine surgeon at Cedars-Sinai, write
  that people often look down when using their
  smartphones, particularly when texting as
  compared to browsing online or watching videos.
  Previous studies have also found that people hold
  their necks at around 45 degrees, and it becomes
  even worse as they sit, versus standing, the
  study team writes.

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• The impact on the spine increases at higher
  flexed postures, they add. While in a neutral
  position looking forward, the head weighs about
  10 to 12 pounds. At a 15-degree flex, it feels
  like 27 pounds. The stress on the spine increases
  by degree, and at 60 degrees, its 60 pounds.
• For todays users, will an 8-year-old need
  surgery at age 28? Lanman said. In kids who
  have spines that are still growing and not
  developed, were not sure what to expect or if
  this could change normal anatomies, he told
  Reuters Health.
• Lanman and Cuellar suggest simple lifestyle
  changes to relieve the stress from the text
  neck posture. They recommend holding cell phones
  in front of the face, or near eye level, while
  texting. They also suggest using two hands and
  two thumbs to create a more symmetrical and
  comfortable position for the spine.

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• Beyond smartphone use, the spinal surgeons
  recommend that people who work at computers or on
  tablets use an elevated monitor stand so it sits
  at a natural horizontal eye level. With laptops,
  they recommend a similar adaptation by using a
  separate keyboard and mouse so the laptop can be
  at eye level and still create a good ergonomic
  position while typing.
• It is difficult to recommend a proper posture
  for smartphone users. If we raise the phone at
  eye level to avoid the look-down posture, it will
  add new concerns for the shoulder due to the
  elevated arm posture, said Gwanseob Shin of the
  Ulsan National Institute of Science and
  Technology Ergonomics Lab in South Korea, who
  wasnt involved with the study.

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• A more practical recommendation would be
  frequent rest breaks or some physical exercise
  that can strengthen the neck and shoulder
  muscles, Shin told Reuters Health by email.
  Some apps can give alarming signals to users to
  avoid prolonged looking-down posture.
• Lanman recommends stretches and basic exercises
  that focus on posture as well. He tells patients
  to lie on their beds and hang their heads over
  the edge, extending the neck backward to restore
  the normal arc in the neck. While sitting, he
  recommends aligning the neck and spine by
  checking that the ears are over the shoulders and
  the shoulders are over the hips.

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• Ask your friend to take a photo of your upper
  body when youre texting, then use the picture as
  the background image on your phone, Shin said.
  That will remind you to take breaks frequently.
  Even a short break of a few seconds - called a
  micro-break - can help our tissues recover.
• SOURCE bit.ly/2pbYL5i The Spine Journal, online
  March 20, 2017.