It seems to be a depressing sign of the times that people don’t look up as much as they used to. Whether they’re looking down as they shuffle through busy crowds in shopping centres, or focusing on trying to do too many things at once, it appears that the days of looking up and making eye contact are long behind us, though no one will look up long enough to notice! However, aside from the rather depressing image of it, looking down so much doesn’t actually affect your wellbeing, right?
When you tilt your head excessively, you can develop pain in your neck which could harm your joint wellness and develop into arthritis. This ailment is becoming more and more common, thanks to the fact, like most people, you tilt your head down now to read and send text messages, check your Facebook news feed, play Words With Friends, or focus on your favourite app on your smart phone. Because of the surge in phone-focus, tilting-head neck pain is now being referred to as ‘text neck’.
So what is text neck exactly? The way you hold your head, neck and shoulders when using your phone isn’t natural, and this abnormal posture puts strain on your spine and causes the pain you feel in your neck and shoulders. However, if you’re thinking ‘well, great, now we know,’ be honest; even calling attention to the text neck epidemic probably won’t get you to cut down on the time you spend tilting your head down. But would that all change if your wellbeing was at a greater risk than just a little shoulder soreness?
At the moment, no one is saying whether text neck is an acute or chronic problem, as the ‘look-down epidemic’ has emerged fairly recently, but if scientists do show that looking down too often causes long-term effects, such as disc problems, joint pain, or arthritis, would it be too late to change anything? According to a doctor from the University of Nebraska Medical Centre, whether or not the long-term damage has been proven, you can take action now, before it’s too late, by changing the position of your mobile device periodically, taking frequent breaks from your device, and exercising to strengthen your neck and back muscles.
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