NCTV Episode 21

Continuing with the series of bitesize health tip videos which can be found here on my YouTube Channel, this episode, includes:-

  • Your potential future if you overuse your devices
  • Signs & symptoms to look out for
  • Interesting illustrations
  • Dowager’s Hump
  • Corrective postural advice

Transcript

If you’d prefer to read the content within, rather than watch the video, then feel free to read the transcript, as follows:-

Hello & welcome to NCTV Episode 21 and this one is all about Text Neck or even tech neck as some call it, and yes it an official term used for a medical condition caused by too much screen time.

Over the years as technology has improved and we’ve seen the introduction of laptops, smart phones, e-readers and tablets in our everyday lives, unfortunate side effect to our posture have occurred as a result of our cultural and lifestyle choices.

So what is Text Neck? Essentially, an overuse syndrome or a repetitive stress injury to the neck caused by holding your head in a forward and downward position for extended periods of time.

When holding your head in this position, excessive amounts of tension are created in the deep muscles of your neck and across the shoulders causing both acute and chronic neck pain and chronic headaches have also been linked to this condition.

What causes it? Predominantly the increased frequency of these pains are due to the increasing popularity and hours people spend on handheld devices.

In an upright posture, when your ear lobes are aligned with the centre of your shoulders, the weight of the average head exerts approximately 5 kg of force through the muscles and joints of the neck. However, when your head is moved forward by only 2 to 3cms away from this neutral position, the weight of your head dramatically increases, and approximately 6 times as much force can be generated. This translates to around 30kg, the same weight as an average 8-year-old, or 6 ten-pin bowling balls!

If left untreated, a ‘text’ neck can lead to inflammation of the neck ligaments, nerve irritation and increased curvature of the neck. It can also develop an upper back postural deformity known as a “dowagers” hump which is a protruding lump at the base of your neck, which can result in alteration of the bone structure of your vertebrae in this region.

Some signs that you may have Text Neck are:-

  1. Instant or delayed-onset upper back or neck pain when using a handheld device, and for hours following use
  2. Nagging or sharp pain in the neck or shoulders at the end of the day or postural fatigue
  3. General shoulder pain and tightness
  4. ‘Head forward’ or ‘chin poke’ posture
  5. Intermittent or constant headaches made worse when looking down or using the computer
  6. Nerve irritation referring pain into your head or down your arms
  7. Limited neck mobility and muscle spasm.

So now you know if you have it, here are a few things you can do to help it:-

Aside from a great osteopath I know and can recommend, 3 other ways to reduce the pain and tension are to:-

  1. Address the postures that are aggravating your symptoms, for example, hold your device up more toward eye-level
  2. Stretch and strengthen your neck muscles to relieve the tension and improve mobility and…
  3. Correct your sitting posture by finding ways to support your arms and shoulders whilst using your devices.

When it comes to physical therapy and rehabilitation there are effectively four stages.

  1. The first is to focus on reducing pain and inflammation.
  2. The second is to restore the normal range of motion and strength with a stretching and exercise program.
  3. The third is restoring full function and tailoring exercises specifically to help you return to your activity, be it sport, job or hobby.
  4. And the fourth phase is to prevent reoccurrence from happening with the goal being to maintain good posture in the long run and this is the hard bit for a lot of people because it usually means reducing time on your device, monitoring your hours of use and having prompts to remind you about posture or taking breaks.

So there you have it, that just about wraps up all you need to know about “text neck”. I look forward seeing you next time for some more bitesize bits to help your health flourish, bye bye.