Bad Posture While Using Mobile Phones can Cause Back and Neck Pain

Sitting for long hours staring at your mobile phone can affect your posture, thereby leading to severe back and neck pain. So, get your posture right to prevent “text neck” or “tech neck”.

With the growing addiction to mobile phones, //people are also becoming victims of degenerative spinal changes, especially in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions.

Mobile Phones: A Huge Threat to Posture

Our posture at the time of receiving and making mobile calls can potentially give rise to musculoskeletal issues. A host of studies have linked the wrong posture while using phones with pain and dysfunction.

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‘Prolonged smart phone usage can cause back and neck pain. So, make sure to mind your posture while using mobile phone.’
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The joints of the body suffer from wear and tear process while it is active, and they get repaired during the period of rest. If we use the joints in an abnormal posture for a long time or put pressure on the joints in a single posture for a long time, the wear and tear will be greater than the repairs, and degeneration will begin in the joints, according to Dr. Uma Kumar, Head of Department, Rheumatology, AIIMS, told IANS.

Bad Phone Posture

"When we hold the mobile in our hands, not only the fingers are used, but our hands, elbow, muscle, and neck are involved as we usually watch the mobile while bending the neck from the neutral position which is over the head and completely straight," Dr. Kumar said.

The AIIMS doctor said that there is a constant weight of brain, skull, and muscles over the neck, which falls on the cervical spine. So if we work or watch the mobile in wrong way, the weight will proportionally increase the pressure on the spine and muscles, creating pain.

"When you tilt your head or angle it forward, the cervical spine's (neck) muscles, tendons, and ligaments support the head. During exertions on the neck, it's the neck's intervertebral discs that help the force to be absorbed and distributed evenly," Dr. Kumar said.

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Talking about the increasing number of such patients, Dr. Kumar said "We often in OPD meet such patients complaining of pain in the waist, fingers, or neck due to following the wrong posture."

Long-term forward head posture may also increase the risk for accelerated degenerative spinal changes, warned AIIMS Dr. Kumar. Rather than tilting the head down, keep it up and bring the mobile and laptop up to meet the eyes, she advised.

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"Our head has around 5 to 8 kg of weight, if we tilt it in any direction, it will exert more pressure on the supporting muscles of the neck, due to the gravitational force, but on long standing fixed position (prolong sitting on computer and use of mobile) it will result into the muscles fatigue, pain and degenerative disorders due to chronic long bad posture," said Dr. Kaushal Kant Mishra, Director, Bone and Joint Institute, Fortis Escort Hospital.

Dr. Mishra said that "If our necks are in their normal position, we exert 5.4 kg of weight on neck, if the head is tilted 15 degree forward, the weight will increase to 12.2 kg, if it is tilted 30 degree, weight will be 18.1 kg, if it is tilted 45 degree, weight will be 22.2 kg and if the head is tilted 60 degree, the weight over the neck will become 27.2 kg."

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"That is why paying attention to the posture while using the mobile and laptop is a must to avoid the pain and disorder. When the neck and shoulder move forward, the muscles in the front get tighter and the back side becomes weaker and thus muscle imbalance happens," Dr. Mishra said.

Proper posture, good ergonomics, and above all, strengthening of neck muscles will be the best prevention as well as treatment for neck, shoulder, and upper back pain, Dr. Mishra told IANS.

Source-IANS