Pocket Computers and Poor Posture
The cell phone is a 21st century tool that occupies a variety of roles in our lives: social secretary, business builder and information insider. How convenient that such a tool should fit in our pocket, and how sad for our spines: when text messaging or e-mailing, most people are sending from the hip. In order to see the screen, we lurch and loom, craning the neck at a damaging angle- something about it just feels right.
In a certain respect, humans are lazy creatures, gormlessly sacrificing good posture for comfort. Cell phone posture is in the vein of most human-screen interaction: bad for the spine. The problem is that heavy cell phone use expedites the spinal degradation caused by poor posture: when you stare down at that phone, you are increasing the weight of your head, as it is burdening the spine, by 6-10 times. The muscles of the neck and shoulders are straining themselves to support this weight, creating imbalances that can lead to serious spinal problems.
There are ways to avoid the dreaded Text Neck. At Espinosa Family Chiropractic, we offer an awareness of the problem, expertise and counseling on improving posture, and chiropractic adjustment to reverse the damage that may have already been done. Call our office in Sacramento at (916) 457-8825 if you are interested in reducing the net effect of cell phone use on your body.