Do you ever look around and see kids hunched over looking at their phones? Is your child complaining about neck pain? Are you concerned that your teenager spends way too much time on their screen and it’s bad for their posture? Well, this is a real problem in today’s society. We are starting to see a new pandemic amongst our youth, and it is known as “text neck”. If you look at young kids these days when they are on their phones, it is pretty obvious what the issue is. They are hunched over with their head hanging down in a poor position for hours at a time. This is causing a lot of issues with their spinal health. More than ever, kids today are complaining about neck and back. Cell phone use is the reason.
Growing up, it was very common for parents to get on their kids’ case about sitting up straight and having good posture. It is no mystery that having bad posture is very not good for your health. But why is that exactly? I’ll tell you. For every inch that your head is hanging forward past the normal position, you add about 10 pounds of pressure onto your spinal cord. It basically acts as a tether where the head hanging down is causing tension and pulling on the rest of the spine. This is very stressful for the spine and lower back muscles. This is what leads to back pain. Overtime, if this tether situation continues, this back pain will become more and more chronic and harder and harder to correct. If you don’t want your child to end up with chronic back pain in their 20s or 30s, follow these very easy steps on how to avoid or correct text neck in your children.
- Hold your screen at eye level. If we are looking down and leaning forward to look at our screens, we can easily correct this problem by bringing our cell phone up to match our eyes at I level. This may feel silly or uncomfortable at first, but I guarantee that overtime your neck and shoulders will feel a whole lot better when they are not strained by looking down all the time.
- Limit screen time. The easiest way to correct text neck is to reduce texting and social media. This problem is directly connected to the amount of time spent looking at the screen. Not only will this give your neck muscles a break, but it will give your brain and eyes break from all the simulation and lights. iPhone allows you to set App Limits for certain apps in the Screen Time section.
- Take frequent breaks. If you or your children have to spend a lot of time on the computer at work, or at a desk in the classroom, you can at least take breaks to give your muscles a reset. I recommend that you set a timer for every 30 minutes to get up from your seat and walk around the house or the office. You can also stand up and stretch. Getting up and resetting your posture will help you feel better and alleviate pain, even if you only do it for only a few minutes.
- Exercise/stretch consistently. Incorporating a regular exercise routine is one of the best things that you can do for you and your children’s spinal health. It is recommended that you exercise at least 3 days a week for 60 minutes a day. You can look into hiring a personal trainer, going to fitness classes, or getting a membership at your local rec center where you have access to a weight room, a pool, and lots of fun activities to keep you moving and healthy.
- See a chiropractor. One of the best things that you can do for yourself or your child to correct your posture and avoid this chronic to text neck issue is to see a chiropractor regularly. Just as you would go to a dentist for regular check ups, it’s important to go to a chiropractor to get your spine checked too. Especially when we are constantly liking our screens. Keeping your spine in proper alignment is the best thing that you can do for your posture and overall health.
Written by Dr. Alison Bremner
