01/23/2022
Y'all listen up! I love technology but technology - especially cell phones - is killing our NECKS/SPINES. 🤳
When I first started practicing, I rarely saw kids with neck pain. More recently, I am, regularly treating 7 and 8-year-olds with neck pain. I am seeing teenagers with premature spinal aging and degeneration similar to what I should see in a 60-year-old.
The neck has a 40-degree curve in it. This curve is essential to support the weight of the head. The average head weighs 12-15 pounds. When we look DOWN and FORWARD the weight on the spine increases. Some studies say for each inch the head moves forward, the pressure on the spine doubles!
The average person spends 2-4 hours on their cell phones a day. In this picture, I have 60 pounds of pressure on my spine. That would be like me carrying a 60-pound dog around my neck! Just think of what's happening to your poor neck every day! 🤔
Imagine if I took your finger and bent it backward for 2 hours. How would your finger feel? It would hurt! 😡 It would be sore and inflamed from the constant stretching of the tissue. This is similar to what happens to our neck when we look down on our cell phones which can lead to:
❌neck pain
❌nagging, sore, and tight muscles
❌headaches
❌pinched nerves
❌numbness and tingling
❌shoulder and jaw pain
❌disc issues
❌changing of the natural shape of neck curve
❌hump on the back
❌continued poor posture can lead to
➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️reduced lung capacity by 30% and even has been linked to depression and anxiety.
And, this isn't limited to cell phones only. When we check our emails at our desktops or sit for extended periods of time, the same things are happening. Are you a surgeon? Dentist? Factory Worker? A cyclist 🚵♂️? Professions that require us to look down for extended periods - and even some leisure activities, can have the same effect.
Some things we can do now:
✔️look down with your eyes, not your neck
✔️try to keep your ears above your shoulders
✔️bring your phone up
✔️visits us....a qualified chiropractor 😀
✔️stretch your chest and strengthen your neck muscles
✔️take breaks
Please share this post and help spread awareness for this major issue! I really don't want us to all end up like Quasimodo the hunchback!
Dr. Beth