If you’re spending a lot of time looking down at your cell phone and texting, or reading your electronic book, you could be developing something chiropractors are calling “Text Neck.” The symptoms include headache, neck, back and/or shoulder pain. If Text Neck sounds like something you’re dealing with lately, you’re not alone.
According to the American Chiropractic Association, tens of thousands of Americans are suffering from Text Neck. It’s not surprising since the latest statistics from the Mobile Data Association reports that Americans write approximately 4.1 billion texts daily. When adjusted for population, this comes out to about 14 text messages per person, per day. Now add to the mix how often you might bend over your Ipad or Kindle and the chance of developing Text Neck increases.
The condition, also called Forward Head Posture, was recently coined Text Neck by Florida Chiropractor Dean L. Fisherman. After calculating 90 percent of his patients suffered from the condition he named his practice after it: Text Neck Institute.
To avoid the condition, doctors recommend holding mobile devices up and in front of your face when you’re using it, taking breaks, stretching your hands and forearms or holding your head back to help relieve the symptoms.
Of course, the simplest way to avoid Text Neck is to either limit texting or give it up all together. Not gonna happen, is it?
