HEALTH COACH - Neck pain related to smart phones increases - Health

HEALTH COACH - Neck pain related to smart phones increases

Spinal Surgeons note an increase in patients with neck and upper back pain, possibly related to poor posture during prolonged use of smartphones, according to a recent report.Some patients, especially young patients who should not yet have back and neck problems, report disc hernias and alignment problems, the authors write in The Spine Journal .In an X - ray, the neck usually bends backwards, and what you see is that the curve is reversed while people look at their phones for hours each Day, said co-author of the study, Dr. Todd Lanman, a spine Neurosurgery at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles."By the time the patients join me, they already have trouble and have problems with the disk," he told Reuters Health.The real concern is that we do not know what it means on the road for today's kids who use phones all day.

Doctors recommend making text with both hands and holding the phone at eye level.

Lanman and co-author, Doctor Jason Cuellar, orthopedic spine surgeon at Cedars-Sinai, write that people often look down when they use their smartphones, especially when they Texting, compared to online browsing or watching videos.

This is how you hold your neck

Previous studies have also revealed that people are keeping their necks at about 45 degrees, and it gets even worse when they sit, as opposed to the standing team, 39 study team. The impact on the spine increases in the upper flexible postures, add.In neutral position, the head weighs 4.5 to 5.5 kilograms. At a 15 degree flex it looks like 12 kilograms. Stress on the spine increases by degree, and at 60 degrees it is 27 kilograms."For today's users, does an eight-year-old need surgery at 28?" Lanman said."In children who have thorns that continue to grow and are not developed, we do not know what to expect or if it could change the normal anatomy," he told Reuters Health .Lanman and Cuellar suggest simple lifestyle changes to relieve the stress of neck text posture. They recommend holding cell phones in front of the face, or near the level of the eye, while sending text.They also suggest using two hands and two inches to create a more symmetrical and comfortable position for the spine.Beyond the use of smartphones, spinal surgeons recommend that people who work on the computer or on tablets use a raised monitor stand, It sits at a natural horizontal eye level. With laptops, they recommend a similar adaptation using a separate keyboard and mouse so that the laptop is at eye level and still creates a good ergonomic position by typing."It is difficult to recommend a correct posture for smartphone users. If we raise the phone at eye level to avoid posture, it will add new shoulder concerns because of the high position of Arms, "said Gwanseob Shin of the Ulsan National Institute of Ulsan Science and Technology Laboratory of Ergonomics in South Korea, who did not participate in the study.

Take a break by SMS

A more practical recommendation would be frequent rest or physical exercise that can strengthen the neck muscles and shoulder, Shin told Reuters Health by email.Some applications may give alarming signals to users to avoid prolonged posture.Lanman recommends stretching and basic exercises that also focus on posture. He told patients to lie on their beds and hang their heads on the edge, extending the neck back to restore the normal bow in the neck.During his sitting he recommends aligning the neck and spine by checking that the ears are on the shoulders and that the shoulders are on the hips."Ask your friend to take a picture of your upper body when you send SMS, then use the image as a background image on your phone," Shin said.This will remind you to take breaks frequently. Even a short pause of a few seconds - called micro-pause - can help our tissues recover.

Reuters