Text Neck and forward head posture
Strain placed on your neck by the constant forward head shift caused by looking down.
A number of years ago, a Florida chiropractor, Dr Dean Fishman, coined the term text neck to describe the flood of neck and upper back problems he was seeing in his office. He quickly reasoned that this postural epidemic was caused by habitual use of mobile phones– specifically in order to text.
Fishman then co-founded The Text Neck Institute to further study causes and cures for this modern-day affliction.
Why is this a potential problem?
The weight of the head is around six kilograms, about the weight of a bowling ball. If constantly in the forward position the weight of the head causes strain to tiny muscles and ligaments in the upper neck and upper back.
What are the signs of Text Neck?
1.Forward Head Posture: a head that sits too far forward–stooped noticeably far in front of the plumb line that normally extends from the ear to the shoulder joint. Issues may include a stiff or sore neck.
2.Pain and discomfort in the upper mid-back, extending into the upper neck, with possible radiation into the shoulders and arms.
Something Interesting to Note.
See how many people you can count who seem to be walking around with a stooped forward head posture, and work out the percentage from the total number of people you have observed.
You may be surprised by how many people you notice; the literature is scarce, but a recent study in the Brazilian Journal of Physiotherapy indicated that amongst 15–17-year-old adolescents examined in Portugal, 68% of the participants revealed protraction of the head, whereas 58% of them had protraction of the shoulder.
53% of the girls self-reported regular neck pain, contrasting with 19% of the boys. This data shows that forward head and protracted shoulder are common postural disorders in adolescents, especially in girls. Neck pain is prevalent in adolescents, especially girls, and it is associated with forward head posture.
Reference:Cervical and shoulder postural assessment of adolescents between 15 and 17 years old and association with upper quadrant pain. Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy, July 2014, 1413-3555
https://spinalresearch.com.au/forward-head-posture-effects-young-aging/
To find out more about how your chiropractor can help you book now: