Text Neck Causes More Harm Than You Think

Dr. Kenneth Hansraj, chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, defines poor posture as head in an inclined forward position and the shoulders drooping ahead in a rounded position.

In his recent study published in the National Library of Medicine, he demonstrated how neck and spine tension is aggravated by forward head posture (FHP). The average human head weighs four to five kilograms or about 8 percent of the total human body weight. Bending the neck forward puts weight on the cervical spine. Weight depends on the angle of curvature. At a 15-degree angle, weight is about 27 pounds, at 30 degrees it's 40 pounds, at 45 degrees it's 49 pounds, and at 60 degrees it's 60 pounds.

This poor posture has been called several names and is determined by daily preoccupation. Some call it scholar's neck or reading neck if posture is caused by hours of studying or reading. Office workers who spend a lot of time working with computers also tend to bend their heads forward at certain angles. A lot of smartphone users do the same while texting or browsing Internet sites.

According to the research, mobile phone users spend an average of two to four hours a day in poor posture. That totals to 1,400 hours per year of stress applied on their spines. Young people who usually spend more hours on their smartphones and mobile gadgets in a slouched position are more likely to get spine injury.

This "text neck" tendency if uncorrected can lead to frequent neck, head and back pains or damage to the spine. It also weakens the respiratory and circulatory systems and induces poor emotional health as well. Other studies have proved that slouching often causes low self-esteem and lack of energy.

The use of modern communication equipment is unavoidable and so is the tendency for users to become accustomed to the text neck posture. Experts advise people to avoid hunching over and to do head and neck exercises regularly. In an interview with The Washington Post, Hanraj's states, "I love technology. I'm not bashing technology in any way. My message is: Just be cognizant of where your head is in space. Continue to enjoy your smartphones and continue to enjoy this technology -- just make sure your head is up."