Mobile phone neck posture damage by smartphones?

Study: Mobile phone neck through smartphone use

11/30/2014

Mobile phones and smartphones have become indispensable in our everyday lives. Especially young people often stare for hours at a day on the small display. This can have health consequences. An expert now warns that the posture that it takes in the long term can lead to postural damage, especially to the so-called „Cell-neck“.

Increasing use of smartphones
Again and again health experts argue about the consequences of the increasing use of cell phones and smartphones. For example, it is associated with an increased risk of cancer. In addition, frequent users run the risk of contracting tendonitis in their thumbs, the so-called SMS thumbs. Due to the wrong posture with lowered head and lowered view, it can also lead to postural damage. An expert in a study now warns against that.

Dropped head and lowered look
Dr. Kenneth K. Hansraj of the New York Hospital for Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation has devoted himself to a phenomenon that has not yet been studied in detail: the mobile phone neck. In the study, in the „Surgical Technology International“ The spine surgeon points out that the view lowered to the phone display is extremely demanding for most users of the cervical spine, as well as the neck and back muscles. The load is greater the further the head is tilted forward.

Malposition can lead to tension
According to the physician weighs a human head about 4.5 to 5.5 kilograms. But due to the inclination of a lowered head, the spine and muscles have to bear a multiple of weight. According to Hansraj, an average user watches his smartphone every day for four hours, thus tipping his head down during that time. In the long run, this malposition can lead to severe tension, especially neck tension, headaches or even premature wear of the intervertebral discs.

Keep your mobile at head height
Dr. Hansraj recommends that people who use their smartphone frequently keep it in such a way that the head does not have to be lowered. An upright head posture can be achieved when the device is held at eye level. So that no stiff neck arises, it should be stretched again and again. In addition, small fitness exercises offer to prevent discomfort. In natural medicine, for example, the so-called progressive muscle relaxation is sometimes used to relax the muscles in the neck area. (Ad)