Chiropractors worried about constant smartphone use causing 'text neck'

Canadian chiropractors are getting worried about a condition that more and more new patients are coming in with. Called "text neck," the injury takes place when a person is continuously looking down at his or her smartphone. With smartphone usage at an all time high in the country, text neck is affecting many people in all age groups, and most of those afflicted don't even know that it is happening.

According to a chiropractor by the name of Dr. Krista Revenberg, every time you tilt your head down toward your smartphone, 66 pounds of pressure is applied to your spine. Text neck "can lead to pain and chronic tissue tightness," Dr. Revenberg says. When the Pokemon Go craze started this past summer, waiting rooms at chiropractor offices were filling up with younger people carrying a smartphone instead of the typical older patient wielding a cane.

Apparently, there are some things you can do to prevent text neck from affecting you. One rule, dubbed the "20-20-20" suggests that you look 20 feet ahead for 20 seconds every 20 minutes that you use your phone. Take breaks from using your phone every once in a while, and stretching also will help you from getting hurt.

While text neck isn't fatal, it can lead to chronic pain. Despite this possibility, there are quite a few smartphone users like Rahul Kumar. A 22-year old attending the University of Windsor, Kumar says that when he uses his phone for more than 2 1/2 hours, he gets pain in his neck. "It really irritates, but we can't do anything. It's important to text in this modern world."

source: CBC via Mobile Syrup