As the human animal has evolved, the spine has become extraordinarily equipped for a huge variety of tasks. Maintaining a rich and varied movement lifestyle is the best prescription for musculoskeletal health. Turn on the Winter Olympics and you can enjoy the world’s best athletes displaying their remarkable skills. I love athletes that tackle the seemingly impossible and make it look almost routine.
But there is one new sport that we all play that is helpful and fun, but detrimental to our spinal health because our necks aren’t used to it, yet. That sport is Playing On My Phone. You do it, I do it, everybody does it. And it is not good for our necks at all! It is so easy to slouch and scroll for very long periods of time. This includes sitting at your office desk. Being mindful of workplace ergonomics is just as important as monitoring the Couch Slouch. The future looks bright for chiropractic. Society is going to produce a lot of bad necks. I’m sure “Text Neck” and “Desk Neck” will become diagnosable entities in the future. There will probably even be a pill for it, but I bet they make an app for it first.
It is important that we simply be extremely mindful of our posture when using our phone or sitting at your desk. The biggest issue you can control is where you hold the phone when using it. Try holding it out in front of you vs. looking straight down. Big difference! Enlarge the font if you can, so you don’t have to “turtle” your neck. And if you talk on the phone regularly, you absolutely must get a pair of earbuds. There are no excuses for not having a pair. They are very, very affordable, extremely comfortable to wear, and you do not have to hold your phone at all. Earbuds will save you from a ton of neck strain you do not need.
One more thing you can control is very simple, Screen Time. Every now and then, just turn your phone off, and watch The Olympics on TV. Turning your phone off, or setting up a monitoring app like Digital Wellbeing, is the better option.
Make a commitment to your health today.
Stay well adjusted,
Dr. Dan Kammer