Bone D ens ity Tes ting At Levi Ho s pita l
Q.
“I look down at my phone, book, or computer for several hours a day. Could this bethe reason for my neck pain?”
A.
Flexing your neck for extended periods of time can cause mored amage than one might realize. With the growing world of technologyand using hand held devices for the majority of the day, it could be the reason for an increase in neck pain. Forces on the neck increase the more we flex our neck. With 0 degrees of neck flex ion, the force on your neck is almost 10 pounds. At15 degrees off lexi on the force is about 27 pounds, and at 30 degrees the force increases to roughly 40pounds.
Over time this can cause several problems including but not limited to an increase in headaches, back pain, muscle or nerve damage, and spinal disc injuries.
Luckily there are things that can bed one to help lessen the severity if caught early on. Simple solutions include monitoring the time spent looking down ata phone, tablet, book or computer. Itis a very common practice to be on a computer or phone while at home and atwork, which increases ourtime spent with our necks flexed. Try to limit the times pen tina fixed flexed position or move your phone, tablet, or book up to where you are viewing it with a more neutral spine.
Work areas can be adjusted to have the chair raised up or down, or adjustments can bemade to your computer screen to allow for better posture. Another way to limit this fixed flexed p os ition is to limit the amount of time with your head propped up on several pillows while you a re la yin g on the couch or in bed watching television or looking at a handheld device.
Here area few simple exercises that you can do to help st tr eng then your cervical spine muscles:
1. While looking straight ahead, place one hand behind your head and push your head into your hand and hold for 10 seconds. Rest and repeat 10 times.
2. Squeezing your shoulder blades together, holding for about 5 seconds, relax and repeat 20 times
3. Place both of your hands behind your neck. Start looking straight ahead and then slowly look up and return back to the center. Repeat 20 times.
These exercise scan be done several times a day. If you have a job that requires you to stay fixed in a certain position for long periods of time, try to give yourself small rest breaks and do these exercises or stand up and look straightahead, even if for just a minute, to give your neck a break. Cell phones, computers, and a good book are hard to put down , but don’t let it get you down!