What Does Texting Do to Your Spine?
February 11, 2015
Do you love your smart phone? If you’re an avid texter, here’s a frightening wakeup call: according to the Surgical Technology International journal, looking down at
Do you love your smart phone? If you’re an avid texter, here’s a frightening wakeup call: according to the Surgical Technology International journal, looking down at your smart phone can force up to sixty pounds of weight on your spine.
The average person spends approximately two to four hours per day using their smartphone. According to the study we just mentioned, this position is damaging your back and neck.
The typical adult head weight approximately twelve pounds. This is the amount of stress that is on a typical adult’s spine when sitting upright with perfect posture. Every time you tilt forward, this increases weight on your spine. If you tilt only fifteen degrees to the front, this adds about twenty-seven pounds of stress on your spine. At sixty degrees, this adds sixty pounds of stress on your spine.
This not only causes stress on your muscles, tendons, and ligaments, but it also causes literal pain in your neck.
Nonetheless, as scary as this information is, we know you won’t be throwing out your smart phone or tablet any time soon. It’s okay if you continue to use it, as long as you’re cognizant of your posture. Make sure to keep your shoulders are aligned with your ears. Also, keep your shoulder blades back in a neutral position. Yes, this mean you will have to bring your phone up to your face, but you won’t have to deal with a stiff neck in twenty years.
Do you love your smart phone? If you’re an avid texter, here’s a frightening wakeup call: according to the Surgical Technology International journal, looking down at
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