The increasing use of electronic devices is causing back pain problems. The fundamental problem lies in the position of the head while using these devices, whether it is the laptop, tablet or cell phone, since in many cases we remain in a very flexed position that causes the weight that the musculoskeletal structure of the neck has to support to become five times greater.
This excess weight on the neck causes stress on the structures and muscle atrophy, as well as having more compression in the front of the neck can cause a more difficult arterial circulation for the head and cause headaches, neck pain, dizziness, etc..
What posture do we take when using the cell phone?
First of all the neck, when we tilt our head forward 15 degrees of 5 kg of pressure that support our cervical, they happen to support 12 kg of pressure, but if we keep our head with the chin so bent forward as to almost touch our sternum the pressure that must support our cervical region to be 27 kg.
On the other hand, we tend to sit badly, leaning on the edge of the chair or the sofa, which causes an increase of the dorsal curvature that can cause pain in the dorsal area and adaptations in the lumbar area that make us susceptible to suffer a lumbalgia.
Consequences of cell phone use in adolescents
In adolescents in the growth stage, it can cause pain in the upper part of the neck, in the base and in the upper part of the back.
Finally, our thumbs are not designed to press on such a small screen the letters to write while using messaging or email services, which can lead to injuries in the thumb region.
3 tips to avoid back pain when using a cell phone
- Physiotherapist specialists recommend looking down, tilting the head as little as possible, and raising the cell phone with the arms until the gaze is horizontal.
- Do not use the cell phone while driving, walking on the sidewalk or crossing a road, even if it is a crosswalk as we can lose control of our car, stumble on the sidewalk or even be run over.
- To avoid thumb injuries, it is recommended to use voice typing or voice messaging or to think about whether it is better to call the person than to have the conversation by written messaging.