In today’s techno savvy age, people especially the young generation have become gadget freaks. In a survey it has been found that about ninety percent of people using mobiles phones are hooked up for four hours in a day. Texting and the social media have made communication easy but can be hurtful to your neck too
Text neck or may I call it as ‘The techno savvy’s neck’! Text neck has become the modern age neck ailment found amongst many college going youngsters or people who lead a sedentary life.
What is Text Neck:
Text neck is a term used for neck pain caused as a result of using gadgets for long, texting and looking down at mobile phone, tablets or any other electronic gadgets too frequently or continuously.
Why is it called “Text” Neck:
Chatting or texting for long while being unaware of the fact that the neck is in the same posture causes damage to the neck muscles and spine. The disorder is called as “Text neck” because it is closely related to chatting and texting messages through phones.
Symptoms of Text Neck
Text neck or the text neck syndrome can present itself as one or a group of symptoms of varying frequency and intensity.
- Discomfort in the neck while bending or performing any neck movements
- Upper back pain ranging from a continuous discomfort to a sharp pain
- Neck pain going in to shoulders with stiffness
- Pain in the wrists, arms and elbows
- Muscle cramps in the upper back and shoulders
- These symptoms if overlooked, with the passing time one may experience nerve related symptoms (like those seen in cervical spondylitis) like numbness and tingling along both the arms and hands.
Complications of Text Neck:
The above mentioned symptoms should alarm you to seek help as soon as possible. The symptoms if not treated within time may give rise to various complications as follows,
- Cervical Radiculopathy (affection of a set of nerves in the neck)
- Cervical Spondylitis (swelling involving bones of the spine)
- Facet Joint Osteoarthritis (degeneration of the joints of the spine)
- Scoliosis (Forward bending of the spine with loss of normal curvature of the spine)
- Frequent headaches
- Dizziness
Management of Text Neck:
“REALIZATION” is the key word for managing your text neck pain. One should be aware about the position of one’s neck whenever one is using one’s smart phone.
Whenever you experience neck pain ask yourself the following questions first,
- Am I using too much of my phone?
- How frequently do I use my phone in a day?
- What is the duration it takes to get rid of my phone once I start using it?
- Which posture is the phone held in and for how much duration?
- Was I working more or was I busier engrossed in my phone during the day?
This self questionnaire will give you the answer. Correcting wrong postures, being alert about the time for which you use phones or tablets will itself set you pain free. Regular exercise can be planned out specific for the back and neck. Massages, physiotherapy and medications whenever needed are the other treatment options.
Various android applications alert you whenever you are holding your cell phone at an unacceptable angle or remind you at frequent intervals to check your posture or even suggest neck exercises. These are very useful to prevent “Text neck”. Let’s be honest, we cannot even think of giving up our mobile phones…why not use these apps to our advantage!
If you too are suffering from Text Neck and continue to do even after changing your posture, do consider homeopathy for your neck pain. To know more about how homeopathy can help you with your neck pain, write in to us at info@lifeforce.in or give us a call at +91-2266888888. Our associate doctors will guide you as to how Dr Rajsh Shah’s research based homoeopathy for pain relief can help your pathology.
– Dr Kanchan, Associate doctor to Dr Rajesh Shah, LifeForce Team
