The debate about how significant health hazards—if any—phones pose for people is definitely not a new one. Ever since mobile phones became more generally available and popular in the 90s, we’ve been hearing about potential long-term effects of radiation on our brains and other body parts, as well increased risks of eye vision problems and heightened stress levels. A point about potential chronic pain and strains is not as common as the ones mentioned above but it still gets made from time to time.
In fact, numerous chiropractors from Ontario, Canada have just joined forces to warn the general public about the dangers of what they refer to as “text neck” which sounds awfully similar to “tech neck“. They claim that people today are simply too obsessed with constantly checking their phones, stating that this type of behavior can easily lead to strained necks. More specifically, the Canadian chiropractors refer to the action of taking out a phone from one’s pocket and looking down to check on it as they claim this action alone is enough to put close to 30 kilograms, i.e. 66 pounds of pressure on a person’s spine. That pressure consequently often results in chronic pain and tissue tightness, claims Krista Ravenberg, a practicing chiropractor from Lakeshore.
In addition to exerting unnecessary pressure on their spines, Ontario-based chiropractors claim that people are also endangering themselves by not reacting to the pain momentarily and attributing it to other causes. Other than that, a portion of their patients suffering from “text neck” also fail to notice any symptoms prior to experiencing chronic pain, says the group. Interestingly enough, chiropractors stated that they’ve witnessed these problems in all demographics and have specifically singled out the recent popularity of Pokemon GO as one of the main causes of the sudden increase in the number of “text neck” cases.
While they haven’t mentioned any specific number of cases which would reinforce their claims, the Ontario-based chiropractors did make some public recommendations for people which are suffering from this issue. More specifically, Ravenberg claims that taking a break from using a smartphone is always a good thing when you’re experiencing neck pain, and the same goes for stretching and readjusting the position in which a person is sitting. Last but not least, the Lakeshore-based chiropractor also explained the so-called 20-20-20 rule according to which you have to look 20 feet ahead of you for 20 seconds after every 20 minutes of phone usage.