"THE TEXT NECK" is becoming an epidemic and could wreck your Spine

"THE TEXT NECK" is becoming an epidemic and could wreck your Spine

The human head weighs about a dozen pounds. But as the neck bends forward and down, the weight on the cervical spine begins to increase. At a 15-degree angle, this weight is about 27 pounds, at 30 degrees it’s40 pounds, at 45 degrees it’s 49 pounds, and at 60 degrees it’s 60pounds.

That’s the burden that comes with staring at a smartphone — the way millions do for hours every day, according to research published byKenneth Hansraj in the National Library of Medicine. Over time, researchers say, this poor posture, sometimes called “text neck,” can lead to early wear-and-tear on the spine, degeneration, herniated discs and even surgery.

Even tough true incidences and prevalences of cervical degeneration are uncertain; however, studieshave shown that 50-67% of adults experience neck and arm pain at some time, and 54% report painpresent within the last 6 months. Today's statistics also show on MRIs, that 25% percent of asymptomaticindividuals under age 40 show signs of cervical disc degeneration (that is one in four individuals!); thisincreases to about 60% in asymptomatic adults over age 40 (that is more than one in two individuals!).

“Neck strains is becoming an epidemic or, at least, it’s more and more common.” Hansraj, chief of spinesurgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, told The Washington Post. “Just lookaround you, everyone has their heads down.” To understand better how this new poor posture awarenesscan affect your neck and cause inhibiting pains, we want to go over a little more anatomy of this part ofyour body.

The anatomy of your head and cervicals

The anatomy of your neck is a well-engineered structure of bones, nerves, muscles, ligaments and tendons.

The cervical spine (neck) is delicate - housing the spinal cord that sends messages from the brain to control all aspects of the body - while also remarkably flexible, allowing movement in all directions, and strong.

The neck begins at the base of the skull and through a series of seven vertebral segments connects to the thoracic spine (the upper back). With its complex and intricate construct, and the many stresses and force that can be placed on it through a trauma or even just daily activities, the cervical spine is at risk for developing a number of painful conditions, such as:

-Cervical degenerative disc diseaseCervical herniated disc
-Cervical stenosis
-Cervical osteoarthritis
-Simple muscle strain resulting in a painful or stiff neck.

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The Cervical Spine: Roles and Functionalities

The cervical spine maintains several crucial roles, including:

- Housing and protecting the spinal cord. A bundle of nerves that extends from the brain and runs through the cervical spine and thoracic spine (upper and middle back) prior to ending just before the lumbar spine (lower back), the spinal cord relays messages from the brain to the rest of the body .

- Supporting the head and its movement. The cervical spine literally shoulders a big load, as the head weighs on average between 10 and 13 pounds. In addition to supporting the head, the cervical spine allows for the head's flexibility, including rotational, flexion/extension and lateral bending motions.

- Facilitating flow of blood to the brain. Vertebral openings (vertebral foramen) in the cervical spine provide a passageway for vertebral arteries to pass and ensure proper blood flow to the brain.These openings are present only in the vertebrae of the cervical spine.

The cervical vertebrae play a key role in maintaining these functions in the neck.

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How much weight do you wish to carry on your neck with your smartphone?

Can’t grasp the significance of 60 degree incline and 60pounds on your neck in your 'Text Neck Position' ?

Imagine carrying an 8-year-old around your neck several hours per day. Smartphone users spend an average of two to four hours per day hunched over, reading e-mails, sending texts or checking social media sites. That’s 700 to 1,400hours per year people are putting stress on their spines, according to the research. And high-schoolers might be the worst. They could conceivably spend an additional5,000 hours in this position, Hansraj said. "The problem is really profound in young people,” he said. “With this excessive stress in the neck, we might start seeing young people needing spine care. I would really like to see parents showing more guidance.”

Medical experts have been warning people for years. Some say for every inch the head tilts forward, the pressure on the spine doubles. The effect is similar to bending a finger all the wayback and holding it there for about an hour.

As the tissue is being stretched back for a long period of time, it gets sore, it gets inflamed and injured. This can then also lead to muscle strain, pinched nerves, herniated disks and, over time, it can even remove the neck’s natural curve which will affect furthermore the whole anatomy of the spine causing further issues and pain because of this new misaligned and poor posture.

Poor posture can then cause other problems. As an example, experts say it can reduce lung capacity by as much as 30 percent because of the compression through a misaligned and tight ribcage. It has also been linked to headaches and neurological issues, depression and heart disease.

“While it is nearly impossible to avoid todays technologies that cause these issues, individuals should make an effort to look at their phones with a neutral spine and to avoid spending hours each day hunched over,” according to the research.

Smartphone users tips to avoid pain are:

- Look down at your device with your eyes. No need to bend your neck or lift your phone level with your neck.
- Exercise: Move your head from left to right, up & down, forward and back several times. Use your hands to provide resistance and press your head gently against them, first forward and then backward.
- Stand in a doorway with your arms extended and push your chest forward to open the ribcage.
- Stand against a wall to teach proper head alignment in relation to the rest of your body. Three points of contact should touch the wall: head, upper back and pelvis should be touching the wall with the clavicle wide. You will be surprised how many people can not reach back with their heads sufficiently to be in contact with the whole body.

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Pilates for a healthy Cervical Spine and a healthy mind

So all our neck strains and injuries due to poor posture are nothing to mess around with, but they don't have to keep you from working out and using your Pilates knowledge

As a matter of fact, Pilates with its carefully controlled movements, will help immensely by releasing and strengthening the neck, shoulder and back muscles. Overdoing it can make things worse, so it's important that you keep your movements fairly gentle, very controlled and absolutely pain free.

As a boxer Joseph Pilates had developed numerous exercising mobilizing and strengthening the neck muscles. He was well aware of how essential and important neck alignment and a healthy neck is going to be for a healthy mind in a efficient body. Apparently he used to stand in front of his window at thePilates studio in New York watching people walk down the streets and would say: "look at this men walking down the street, his head will reach the corner of the street 3 seconds before the rest of his body... He NEEDS Pilates!" Unfortunately a lot of those neck exercises have been taken out of today'sPilates practice as they were misinterpreted and demand a lot of body awareness and body wisdom to be performed safely. Most of our today's clients would not be able to perform his Neck Repertoire with no strain. But this does not mean that because we have taken out Joseph neck repertoire, we should forget about the taking care of our neck. Reintroducing the concepts of his exercises by adapting them to today's clients ability is essential and has never been more needed because of our excessive use of technology. But very little teachers use these concepts and give homework to their clients to maintain a healthy neck... So let's introduce this again the sooner the better.

The first time I was personally introduced to the importance of exercising the neck was in my postgraduate training with Elder Master Teacher Lolitas San Miguel that had developed a whole sequence of Post Pilates exercises including specific Neck and Wall exercises to maintain good posture for better everyday living. After having understood the importance of your neck, there has not been a class, without me teaching my clients to take care of their neck and its alignment. Working your Neck should involve mobilization movements targeting the head, the neck, the scapula and rib cage through progressive breathing.

So the whole aim of bringing more awareness when using your smartphones more wisely was not to bashing technology in any way but to simply be much more cognizant of where your head is in space when you text. So continue to enjoy your smartphones and this technology — just make sure your "head is up"and "mobilize" your neck 3-4 times a week (every second day) to avoid any patterns that can lead to pain.

Taking care of your neck and its strains because of today's modern world has to become an essential part again in your exercise routine if you want to stay healthy in your body and your mind 'for the greater enjoyment of life' just like Joseph Pilates wrote in his book Return to Life.

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Source:
Text Neck based on an article in the Washington Post written by Lindsey Bever, general assignment reporter, November 20, 2014.Study informations based on the courtesy of Dr. Ken Hansraj M.D.

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