The use of smartphones can make you a hunchback. This is according to a 2014 study carried out by Dr Kenneth K. Hansraj, Chief of Spine Surgery at New York Spine Surgery & Rehabilitation Medicine.
The study found that bending your head at a 60-degree angle to send and receive texts puts 60 pounds of pressure on the cervical spine – the part of the spine above the shoulders.
With smartphone users now spending an average of two to four hours per day with their heads dropped down, this results in 700 to 1400 hours a year of excess stresses seen about the cervical spine.
“Text neck”, the posture formed by leaning over a smartphone while reading and texting is a big problem, according to the study.
The head naturally weighs 10 to 12 pounds when upright but bending causes gravity to pull on it. Just tilting your head 15 degrees adds 27 extra pounds of pressure.
The posture we adopt as we stare at our phones increases the stress on the neck and can cause excessive wear and tear that may eventually require an operation to correct it.
While it’s nearly impossible to avoid technology, Dr Hansraj suggests people should make an effort to look at their phones with a “neutral spine”, sending their eyes downward, not their heads.
The study was published in the journal Surgical Technology International.
S.O.Z