Are you experiencing increased tension in your neck muscles and shoulders, recurring headaches, pins and needles in your arms or hands, are the kids developing a ‘camel hump’?
This could be a flag to a relatively new phenomenon called ‘text neck’, that is of great concern within the medical fraternity and appearing more commonly in people of all ages and stages at our Living Osteopathy Clinic here in Grey Lynn.
Obviously digital devices are here to stay and I’ll be the first to put my hand up and declare “I love all of mine” – each and every one of them – iPhone, iPad, Fit-bit activity tracker and the freedom I enjoy with my ‘mobile office’. However, a quick glance at this graph below highlights a modern-day problem that we all need to address. Your head weighs 4.5kg but as you look down, the weight on your neck increases to 12kg at a 15-degree angle and a phenomenal 27kg at 60 degrees.
Courtesy of Dr. Ken Hansraj M.D, Chief of Spine Surgery at New York Spine Surgery & Rehabilitation Medicine
And then there is compelling medical data, x-rays and advanced clinical studies from eminent worldwide researchers confirming that ‘text neck’ is real and present in up to a staggering 58% of the mobile data users, to varying degrees.
How can osteopathy help?
Go to livingosteopathy.co.nz and there on our front page is a video with three simple one-minute postural rebalancing movements that I specifically refined for text neck recovery, no equipment required and it’s been designed for all ages.
In the clinic, I use gentle osteopathic techniques to correct the balance between where your neck meets your upper back and where your neck meets your head, whilst broadening and opening through your upper chest and ribs.
This would reduce the compression through your spine by unwinding the muscular tension, allowing more space for the intervertebral discs and the health-giving blood and nerve supply, which in turn provides pain relief.
If I felt further investigation was appropriate, I would refer you for an x-ray.
Then re-education and retraining of your muscles and joint position will be encouraged.
Don’t let it become a longstanding issue. It is so important to get advice and treatment. We would discuss and set in place a step-by-step short and easy daily routine to rectify your posture and awareness
You now have an increased awareness of the issues and that it can be a serious matter with long term effects for your total-body posture. Ultimately if not correctly diagnosed, treatment sorted and posture corrected, it leads to incrementally increased spinal stresses and misalignment potentially leading to corrective surgery – something we all want to avoid!
Another problem is hunched shoulders must come forward to help carry the weight of your angled text neck – this in turn reduces the space for the nerves, which exit from the vertebrae in the neck that supply the shoulders and arms, and reduces your lung capacity by up to 30%.
What can you do to help yourself? Do the opposite! Stand tall, this helps to create the perfect posture to glide through your life. Seated at the computer or dinner table – you will look great – poised – you will seem to ‘grow’ quite a few inches!
Be aware of where your head is in space, make sure your head is up.
As a Primary Health Care provider, we would just like to mention to our community that it is Diabetes Month and there will be a raised awareness of healthy living and eating.
Can osteopathy help? Most certainly, our treatment accompanies and supports the patient in dealing with diabetes especially with movement and general well-being.
Best results are achieved if your osteopath and the patient work in the same direction.
If you are looking for a little gift, Diabetes Auckland have endorsed a product that we stock. Aircycle, which has been designed and manufactured in New Zealand, is light and fits into an envelope and can be posted around the world. It is so easy to protect and care for your feet with an Aircycle inflatable foot exerciser.
Aircycle are available at Diabetes Auckland and Living Osteopathy.
(SARAH–JANE ATTIAS)
Disclaimer: This article is for general information purposes only. If you have a specific health problem you should seek advise from an appropriate registered health care provider. Living Osteopathy is a Primary Health Care Provider registered with ACC and the OCNZ. Living Osteopathy does not accept any liability other than to its clients.
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