3 hours Phone Usage a Day – Changes to Neck Curve

^{A recent cross-sectional study on the impact of hours of smart phone usage  a day on neck curve changes, disc decay and neck pain. With more and more young people, including children using smart phones, the impact on the neck is showing to be damaging over time. Prolonged phone usage causes changes in neck posture and this research paper has shown results that are alarming.}

^{Try not using your phone for a day, it’s not easy in these times to not pick up a phone at some point. Phones are not just to call someone or receive calls. They are used to pay bills, monitor daily kilojoule intake and energy output and to watch series. The list goes on and on.}

The Negative Effects of Increase Phone Usage

^{In this particular research paper that was published in 2020 they looked at 107 people between the ages of 20-35 years of age. The study was done over a two year period to see the changes in and showed the following for those who had more than 3 hours of phone usage a day:}

• ^{Neck curve, ideal forward curve of 40 degrees}
• ^{Disc degeneration (DD)}
• ^{Disc displacement}
• ^{Modic changes (MD), indicative of premature disc degeneration and inflammatory changes}

^{The results showed:}

^{“The subjects, who used telephones more than 3 h per day, had statistically significant differences in both cervical lordosis and MCs compared to those who used less than 3 h. On the contrary, though the disc herniation and DD affected these people more, the difference was not statistically significant.”}  

^{What can you do to help yourself?}

• ^{Reduce time spent on your phone. You can check on your phone how much time you spend on it in a day.}
• ^{If you have pain, then see a practitioner who can help with the changes in neck curve}
• ^{Include some exercises to increase the strength of the mid back and stretches for the front of the chest}
• ^{Use a Pro-lordotic stretcher to work on the forward curve in the neck and stretch the neck extensor muscles at the back of the neck\\}
• ^{Chiropractic BioPhysicsTraction to improve a loss of cervical lordosis}
• ^{Cervical Denneroll to improve a loss of forward neck curve}
• ^{Denneroll Pillow}

^{If you have any questions, feel free to call us on 9329 1118 or email us info@errolstchiro.com.au}

Reference: Correlation of Cervical Spinal Degeneration with Rise in Smartphone Usage Time in Young Adults

S Cevik1, A Kaplan2, S Katar3 

Nigerian journal of clinical practice. 2020 Vol 23 Issue 1 pg 1748-1752

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