Text Neck Syndrome, Neck Pain Caused By Long Smartphone Play

Illustration (Kindel Media/Pexels)

JAKARTA - Currently, it seems that almost all daily activities cannot be separated from smartphones. Starting from work matters, reading the news, shopping, to ordering food and transportation, everything is done using only the device in hand.

The presence of smartphones is undeniably easier for life. But like a double-edged sword, gadgets can also be a cause of disaster, especially those related to health. Various studies have proven that excessive use of gadgets can trigger a number of health problems, one of which is text neck syndrome.

Reporting from Spine Health, Thursday, June 2, text neck syndrome is a repetitive stress injury caused by using a mobile device for a long time with the head down and not moving. But not just sending messages, text neck syndrome is also associated with many activities on smartphones such as browsing, playing games, or doing various office work.

Without realizing it, when doing these activities, the head will usually be bowed and look down at an angle of 45 or 60 degrees. This position makes the head rest on the neck. For a long time, even the neck was finally unable to withstand this amount of pressure.

Then what are the symptoms that are usually experienced by people with text neck syndrome, here are some of them.

Pain in the neck, upper back, and shoulders

A person will experience intense or stabbing pain in one particular place. But it can also occur in wider parts of the body such as starting from the bottom of the neck and to the shoulders.

Head posture too forward

When bent down for too long, the muscles in the neck, chest, and upper back become unbalanced due to a head posture that is too forward for a long time. This condition can make it difficult for a person to maintain good posture.

Reduced mobility

Using a smartphone for a long time can make the neck, upper back, and shoulders stiff, making it difficult to move.

Headache

The muscles at the base of the neck can become painful and then radiate from the neck to the head which can cause headaches. In addition, looking at the screen too much can also increase the risk of eye fatigue.

The pain gets worse when the neck is bent

Symptoms of text neck syndrome tend to get worse when the neck is bent. The pain that occurs can vary from person to person. For example, someone who uses a smartphone with both hands may be more prone to experiencing pain that is evenly distributed on both sides of the neck and upper back. Meanwhile, for those who only use one hand, the possibility of experiencing more pain on one side only.

Prevention that can be done

Even though it looks trivial, if not treated immediately, text neck syndrome will certainly reduce a person's quality of life and even cause more pain in the future. Well, therefore it would be better to prevent this health disorder from the start.

For that, there are several things you can do to prevent text neck syndrome from happening to you. First, of course, by limiting the use of smartphones. Then the second is to adjust your posture when using a smartphone.

As much as possible hold the device at eye level so you don't have to look down for too long. Then finally, do stretches that specifically target the neck, chest, and upper back to relieve tension. For example, by means of light stretching such as rotating the shoulders or tilting the head.