Spinal thought 326. Research on the dangers to the neck and spine from texting and using mobile phones, from Dr. Kenneth Hansraj, chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, which will be published in Surgical Technology International. According to Dr. Hansraj, the head which weighs about 4.5 to 5.5 kg, when the neck is bent forward increases the load on the spine dramatically. The effect of the weight of the head n the spine increases when the head is bent forward at varying degrees. When it is held at a 60 degree angle it puts the equivalent of 60 lbs worth of pressure on your cervical spine. Of course the head itself does not become heavier, rather it is the pull on the neck muscles that has the effect of increasing the load. The researchers discuss the effect of poor posture on health and define bad posture as “the head in a tilted forward position and shoulders dropping forward in a rounded position”. They define good posture as “the ears aligned with the shoulders and the ‘angel wings’, or the shoulder blades, retracted”. I am no agreeing with these descriptions. It is not only when tipping the head forward and down that posture is compromised. It is also when the head is pulled back on the neck and the neck is forward. In fact the result of spending long times bending the head and neck forward easily leads to the head being pulled back on the neck to look up again, instead of allowing the head and spine to align upwards together. When describing good posture I absolutely disagree with the idea of ‘retracted shoulder blades’ especially if they then become ‘winged’ and stick out. Pulling the shoulder blades back like that in fact has the effect of the arms and shoulders having to be rounded forward to use the hands. As I have mentioned in a previous post, if we were meant to pull the shoulders back we would have been designed with hands we use behind our back. It will be interesting to see the full report. cbsnews/news/omg-youre-texting-your-way-to-back-pain/
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 08:35:50 +0000
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