Text neck syndrome
Text neck refers to the posture formed by leaning forward for prolonged periods. This causes flexion of neck for prolonged periods such as for example when viewing mobiles, reading and texting, etc. This posture often results in neck pain and may radiate upwards causing headaches or towards shoulder causing shoulder pain. It also affects posture causing increased kyphosis. This condition is growing because of advanced lifestyle and modern technologies. It thus is a concerning cause, especially for kids.
Most of the young adults spend an average of 3 to 4 hours daily on their mobiles.
Symptoms of Text Neck
Flexing the head and neck forward to use a phone directly affects the posture of the spine.
Damage caused by untreated text neck can be similar to a repetitive stress/strain injury.
The most common symptoms are neck pain, stiffness and soreness.
- Stiff neck: difficulty in moving the neck
- Pain: can be localized or diffused.
- Radiating pain: there can often be radiation of pain into the shoulders and arms, or even upwards towards the head causing headache.
- Muscular weakness: shoulders muscles and scapular muscles are weak
- Headache: sub-occipital muscle tightness causes tension type headaches.
Managing the condition –
Prevention is the key. The following precautions are advisable while using any such devices or when involved in any activity causing a similar posture.
- Avoid excessive usage of devices
- take frequent breaks
- Avoid prolonged static postures
- Do not engage in much of repetitive movements
- Avoid holding devices in one hand for long duration
Also read- https://vcurehealthcare.com/how-to-do-the-right-pushups-exercise/