Text Neck! Here's What Texting Is Doing to Your Neck - and How to Fix It!

We all know that texting and driving is dangerous. Texting while driving in cars and trucks causes over 3,000 deaths and 330,000 injuries per year and texting while walking leads to even more injuries per mile.

You may have thought that using your smartphone while sitting or standing still was the safest thing you could do, but it turns out that texting while standing has health drawbacks as well.

In addition to other ways phones adversely affect our health, tilting our heads down and forward even slightly when we look at our smartphone screens can put as much as 60 pounds of stress on our necks and spines!

60 pounds = 4.28 stone!

60 pounds = 27.27kg!

Can you lift 60 pounds with your neck? That's the weight of four bowling balls or an 8-year-old child. And, can you do it for more than two hours per day? That's right, the average person spends about two hours and 42 minutes on their lphone per day,

"An adult head weighs 10 to 12 pounds in the neutral position. As the head tilts forward, the forces seen by the neck surges to 27 pounds at 15 degrees, 40 pounds at 30 degrees, 49 pounds at 45 degrees and 60 pounds at 60 degrees."

This forward head tilt while using your smartphone adds stress to the spine. "Over the years, this may deteriorate the back and neck muscles to the point of pain and discomfort and even to the point where you may need surgery," Spending for spinal care has nearly doubled in the past decade. Even if it’s not causing you pain and discomfort yet, the typical texting posture can make you feel less confident and even perform less successfully at work or at school. What Do YOU Think?

Are you reading this article on your computer or on a smartphone?

How many hours do you use your smartphone per day?

Are you concerned about how smartphone usage may be damaging your health and/or posture?

Are you suffering from neck or back pain?

Were you aware that smartphone usage creates as much as 60 pounds of force on your neck?

Will you be changing your habits to address this?

Leave a comment below or on our Facebook page, and let us know. Follow Mike Stamp Physio on Facebook.com/mikestampphysiotherapy. Suffer from Text neck? Contact us for further assistance.