by Dr. Jon Gindhart, DC
How many of us use a cell phone on a daily basis? Or work on a computer? Or a tablet? Just about all of us! Text Neck is a recent phenomenon that has been attributed to the prolonged use of these devices. Text Neck is described as pain and stiffness in the neck, but can also cause headaches, poor posture, shoulder pain, and tingling in the hands and fingers. It is the result of constant use of mobile devices which keep the neck in a flexed position and the head pointed down. This causes the relative weight of the head to increase by 3-4x! This means your neck muscles have to work 3-4 times harder than normal to support your head.
I personally have seen more children and teens coming in with the same type of neck and back pain that I would normally see in an older adult. This is because their necks are almost constantly in the flexed position and always being stressed. Because of this stress they are starting to experience chronic pain. They also have the posture of someone who has been working at a computer for many years. Once their spines are adjusted and their proper posture restored, the pain goes away. The key, however, is to teach them proper use of these devices so that they won’t put themselves back in to the same position down the road…and same goes for adults!