Poor posture due to excessive screen time is a contributing factor to neck pain. To illustrate that point, on the weekend I was at a local park with the kids not from the chiropractic clinic. A family group of two young kids, parents and a grand parent came walking across the park and sat on a park bench. I initially thought that’s nice to see the whole family unit outside enjoying the park.
Unfortunately they then proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes on their phones or devices looking down playing games etc! We had to leave so I’m not sure how long they were out in this wonderful park playing on their electronic devices. How sad!
Neck pain and poor posture often go hand in hand. With the increased use of electronic devices and screen time people of all ages are getting into static, hunched, forward head positions for long periods of time, resulting in increased muscle tension and tightness in the joints of the neck and upper back. What’s called ‘Tech Neck’ these days.
Part of the problem is that we aren’t getting outside as much as we used to. Kids are stuck inside on their devices and unfortunately looking for adults for inspiration is no good as they are also head down on their devices.
As a chiropractor this is what we are up against. Hours of screen time leading to poor posture, neck pain, headaches, upper back pain etc. Tech neck and even worse ‘Digital Dementia’ where the brain doesn’t think for itself anymore due to sensory overload from too much screen time.
And so even when we get people outside to enjoy the local parks, they stay chained to their phones. For your neck and your kids, go and enjoy our local parks but keep off your phones.