You May be Holding Your Phone Wrong

There is a huge chance that you reading this are probably holding your phone face down and looking down at it,

Your head is bent forward, with your shoulders curved, if this is you, you should probably sit back, put your head straight and continue reading.

Let us explain why holding your phone in this manner is probably a bad idea.

 

Your head (adult) weighs about 5kg, and sits on your neck which is made of bones connected to one another and stacked on each other, This arrangement is called the cervical spine

 

Ideally, the weight of the head should not cause any problems, but when you bend forward, the amount of pressure put on your neck bones can increase to as much as 27kg as the neck now has to support the weight of the head at an unnatural angle.

For every inch you tilt your head forward, you increase the pressure on your spine by almost double

 

According to a study by Hansraj, a spine surgeon living in New York, his study showed what happened to our necks and posture when we use these devices wrongly

 

Phones are not necessarily the offenders here, but rather how we use them, You want to be sure that your head is straight up when you are using these devices, it also includes iPads, games, laptops etc

Let us not forget that the average person uses their phone over 4 hours a day, that is a lot of time to hold the head at an unnatural angle

 

The Complications

When you put this amount of strain on the spine, you stretch it and it may get sore and inflamed

This can lead to

  • Muscle strain
  • Spine problems
  • Nerve pain
  • Pinched nerves
  • Pain

 

The Way Forward: Prevent neck pain

We decided to share some ways to prevent this pain in the neck caused by hours of holding your device wrongly, this is called text neck and now very common among very young people

Here are some ways to prevent and manage this:

Hold your phone properly

Try holding your phone at eye level so that your head and shoulders are not slouched forward. Your ear should be in line with your shoulders, this helps your head maintain a neutral position and prevents neck pain

 

Take breaks

If you are on the phone for long periods at a time, You can take breaks every hour, for a few minutes, Set reminders if you have to, but consciously take breaks from your phones. We recommend that you set reminders every 45 minutes to take a break from a gadget, whether it is a laptop or phone or tablet, make that conscious decision today

 

Stretch

You can do what we call an exaggerated nod, how?

Tilt your head backwards and hold for a few seconds and then release, do this multiple times in a day when you feel the strain, also stretch your neck in either direction, a few minutes a day, front, backward and side to side

 

See a Doctor

If you are experiencing prolonged neck pain that is not relieved by these things, you should see a doctor to properly evaluate the reason you are having this pain in your neck

 

Did you find this helpful, share with someone else,

Text safe

 

 

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