Are you reading this on your smartphone or tablet? Freeze! What’s your posture like? There’s a very good chance that your neck is bent forward and down as you look down at the screen.
Now lift your head and look up, stretching your neck back in the opposite direction for 10 to 30 seconds. We’ll wait. Are you back? OK, good!
Now put your elbows in toward your rib cage and lift your device to be more parallel with your face. All set? Excellent!
You’ve just made two simple movements that will help you combat the dreaded “text neck” or “tech neck” wreaking havoc on postures and nervous systems everywhere.
Oh, you aren’t reading this on a mobile device? No worries — just try these adjustments next time you pick up your smartphone, and feel the difference they make.
According to research published in the National Library of Medicine, the average person spends two to four hours a day, or 700 to 1,400 hours per year, with their neck bent in an unnatural position. For younger people — teens in particular — the daily number increases to six to eight hours!
This is worrisome because the average human head weighs about 12 pounds, and with the neck bent forward at a 60-degree angle, the weight on your spine increases to 60 pounds. That’s like carrying an 8-year-old around on your shoulders for a few hours every day. Can you imagine? You wouldn’t do it, right? But chances are solid that you are doing the equivalent.
As Dr. Jacob Fletcher of Well Beings Chiropractic explains in this “Good Day Colorado” segment, no other generation has experienced anything like tech neck before, so this unnatural neck position is causing new issues, including premature wear and tear on the spine.
In addition to headaches, and neck and back pain, text neck and poor posture have also been linked to digestion problems, lung capacity reduced by up to 30 percent, increased risk of heart disease and neurological issues, according to research noted in a Washington Post article.
But you can help yourself by being aware of the dangers, and performing the simple adjustments noted at the top of this post. If you’re suffering from chronic discomfort from poor posture and text neck, Dr. Jacob can evaluate the situation, looking at your posture and spinal structure to make chiropractic adjustments that add balance back into your neck, spine and nervous system and help change their underlying structures.
Check out the video from “Good Day Colorado” to learn more about text neck. To find out how Dr. Jacob can help treat your poor posture with chiropractic care, call Well Beings Chiropractic at 303-238-6500. And in the meantime, make sure to follow Dr. Jacob’s advice: Look up!