Are you a chronic texter? What about your kids? Maybe you enjoy reading books on your tablet for hours on end. Pay close attention to what comes next because it’s going to save you a lot of future headaches, quite literally. We’re not saying throw out your cell phone or Kindle, but being aware of how much you use your devices just might be a good idea.
When your head is in a neutral position directly above your shoulders, it puts about ten to twelve pounds of stress on those neck and shoulder muscles. Big deal.
Picture yourself carrying around four to six ten pound bowling balls around your neck. Yes, you heard that right, four to six. That’s forty to sixty pounds of stress you’re putting on those neck and shoulder muscles of yours giving you poor neck posture.
So yeah, you probably guessed that Text-Neck isn’t necessarily making it on the nice list and you need to be thinking about what to do for better neck posture. Smartphones and tablets aren’t going away. It’s our culture so get used to it, but beware of some of these symptoms.
What the heck is Text-Neck?
Text-Neck is a new syndrome that’s affecting millions of Americans every year and they don’t even know it, or they just aren’t aware. Maybe they just don’t care. We at least want to do our due diligence and give you some facts. Everyone has a neutral position, just like a car. It’s your best resting position that causes the least amount of stress on your skeletal system. When you’re texting, your head is leaned forward and downward in front of your shoulders angled typically between 45-60 degrees. This is a forward neck posture that isn’t good to be in hours at a time, yet we do it anyway, don’t we?
When your head is in a neutral position directly above your shoulders, it puts about ten to twelve pounds of stress on those neck and shoulder muscles. Big deal.
Picture yourself carrying around four to six ten pound bowling balls around your neck. Yes, you heard that right, four to six. That’s forty to sixty pounds of stress you’re putting on those neck and shoulder muscles of yours giving you poor neck posture.
So yeah, you probably guessed that Text-Neck isn’t necessarily making it on the nice list and you need to be thinking about what to do for better neck posture. Smartphones and tablets aren’t going away. It’s our culture so get used to it, but beware of some of these symptoms.
Text-Neck Symptoms
Nearly seventy-seven percent of Americans own a smartphone1 and they spend upward of fourteen hundred hours on their phone each year. Teenagers spend nearly five thousand hours2 so there’s a pretty darn good chance some of the following symptoms are starting to pop up:- Spinal Misalignment
- Chronic Neck Pain
- Chronic Headaches
- Upper Back Pain
- Muscle Tightness
- Shoulder Pain