Neck Pain

Neck Pain Q & A

‘Text neck’ is becoming an ‘epidemic’ and could wreck your spine

The adult human head weighs about 12 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 with 40 pounds, at 45 degrees it’s 49 pounds and at 60 degrees it’s 60 pounds.

That’s the result from staring at a smart phone – the way millions do for hours every day, according to research published by Kenneth 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 and even surgery.

“It is an epidemic or, at least, it’s very common,” Hansraj, chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, told The Washington Post. “Just look around you, everyone has their heads down.”

Medical experts have been warning people for years.  Some say for every inch the head tilts forward, the pressure on the spine doubles.
Corrective methods using Chiropractic BioPhysics® Technique extension traction procedures and devices are the only true evidence based methods that have been shown to statistically and clinically improve the amount of cervical lordosis without the use of surgery.  This has been documented in several clinical trials and case reports.