Do you have Text Neck?

Do you have frequent neck, shoulder or back pain? You may have a recently identified condition called "text neck." The repetitive strain injury occurs when you spend considerable time looking down at your phone.  Over 70 percent of Americans own smartphones; and because of this, it's likely to affect many of us at some point if we do not change the way we use our phones.
What Causes Text Neck?
Your neck is designed to support the weight of your head in an upright position. Dropping your head increases the amount of pressure placed on the vertebrae in your neck and also strains muscles in your neck, shoulders, and back.
When you hold your head at a 60 degree angle, like when you look down at your phone, it's as if you suddenly added another 50 pounds of weight to your head. Because your neck was not designed to support so much weight, permanent damage eventually can occur. If you spend a lot of time texting, playing games or surfing the Internet on your phone, the curvature of your neck may even be permanently affected.
Symptoms of Text Neck include:

• Neck, shoulder, back, arm, and hand pain
• Headache
• Spasms in the neck, shoulder and back
• Numbness and tingling
• A change in posture
• Tight shoulder and neck muscles

What Are the Long-Term Effects of Text Neck?

• Disc Problems. Your discs cushion the vertebrae in your spinal column. Although they're designed to be flexible, they are not meant to withstand when your head is constantly lowered. Over time, you may begin to experience cracked, slipped or herniated discs.
• Pinched Nerves.  Increase risk of pinched nerve. The problem occurs when bone or tissue presses on a nerve.
• Arthritis. Wear and tear on your vertebrae can lead to early arthritis.
• Bone Spurs. Bone spurs can develop cause pinched nerves.
• Hunchback. Your back becomes rounded due to a curvature of the spine.
• Breathing problems. Lungs can’t completely expand when you are hunched; therefore, heart has to work harder

 3 Ways to Avoid Text Neck

• Keep your phone at eye level as much as possible
• Take a break at least every 15 minutes
• Stretch it out – arch your back and gently tilt head side to side and up and down