Got A Dore Neck That Won’t Go Away? It Could Be Your Phone

Got A Dore Neck That Won’t Go Away? It Could Be Your Phone - “To be happy in this world, first you need a cell phone, and then you need an airplane. Then you’re truly wireless.”

Certainly, for most of us, our handphones are our best friend; we are hardly ever parted from it.

We use our handphones to carry out numerous tasks every day – everything from making grocery purchases to watching movies.

Living two days without a handphone is like surviving unarmed in a combat zone.

It not only helps us to stay connected, but is also a key to entertainment, networking, navigation, schedules and so on.

Yes, no doubt, we are over-dependent on it and it may have affected our social skills, but the handphone is indispensable. Love it or hate it, we just can’t ignore it.

A recent study by researchers at Baylor University in the United States found that college students spend an average of nine hours a day on their handphones.

Women students spend 10 hours a day on the device, while men spend almost eight hours.

Handphones and tablets are indeed changing the way we access information and entertainment, but more importantly, the use of these devices influences our posture and body mechanics in unhealthy ways that contribute to neck, upper back, shoulder and arm pain.

Furthermore, poor posture while sitting, standing, walking or in a static position can lead to more than upper body pain and stiffness; it affects other parts of the spine, such as the middle and lower back.

The billions of people using their handphones everyday are usually totally unaware that this usage can be detrimental to the spine.

Our neck typically curves backward, but this curve is being reversed as people look down at their handphones for hours each day.

“Text neck” is the term used to describe the neck pain and damage sustained from looking down at your handphone, tablet or other wireless devices too frequently and for too long.

The posture of bending your neck to look down does not occur only when texting. For years, we’ve all looked down to read.

However, people tend to do it for much longer periods nowadays with handphones, and it is especially concerning with young, growing children as it could cause permanent damage to their cervical spine that could lead to lifelong neck pain.

A load of hurt

How can using a smartphone or other mobile device cause so much hurt?

It’s all in how you look at it. Literally, looking down, dropping your head forward, changes the natural backward curvature of your neck.

Over time, that misalignment can strain muscles and cause wear and tear on the structures of the neck.

According to Dr Robert Bolash, a pain specialist at Cleveland Clinic in the US, three things happen when you drop your head:

• Your neck moves forward.

• Your shoulders round forward or lift up toward your ears.

• Your neck and shoulder muscles develop spasm.

“Neck muscles, in their proper position, are designed to support the weight of your head, about 10 to 12 pounds (4.5 to 5.4kg),” he says.

Research shows that for every inch you drop your head forward, you double the load on those muscles.

Looking down at your handphone, with your chin to your chest at around a 60-degree angle, can put about 60 pounds (27.2kg) of force on your neck.

The forward head posture causes shortening of the muscular fibres around the joints of the upper spine and overstretching of muscles around joints, commonly causing neck pain and soreness, which may become chronic over time.

In addition, looking down at your handphone too much each day can lead to:

• Upper back pain ranging from a chronic, nagging pain to sharp, severe upper back muscle spasms.

• Shoulder pain and tightness, possibly resulting in painful shoulder muscle spasms.

• Pain, and possibly, neurological symptoms, radiating down your arm and into your hand if a cervical nerve becomes pinched.

• Muscle fatigue, limited movement at the neck and decreased work capacity.

• Muscle fibre injury and cumulative damage from acute trauma to the muscles of neck and shoulders due to repetitive use of certain muscles.