Text neck is a modern age term coined to describe repeated stress injury and pain in the neck resulting from excessive watching or texting on handheld devices over a sustained period. It is also known as turtle neck posture. Text neck does lead to a restriction in the cervical range of motions. The scapular position is also altered in persons who are suffering from text neck.
What happens in text neck syndrome?
Neck pain from poor postures can be explained as in standing position the head is supported by the spinal vertebrae. Once the head is bent forward the vertebrae do not support the weight of the head as much. Muscles, tendons and ligaments work harder to hold up the head. Over time the muscles and other soft tissues tighten up due to the excessive workload required to hold the head position. The muscles of the front of the neck become weak from being in the shortened position. This persistent overload and tightening of soft tissues may eventually result in decreased blood flow and oxygen to the soft tissues, ultimately causing pain.
How the force on the neck differs with the angle of the neck tilt
In the neutral head position ( 0°) head exerts 12 pounds or 5 kg of force through neck muscles. Bending the head forward to 15° exerts 27 pounds or 12kg of force through neck muscles. This force increases to 40 pounds or 18 kg at 30°, 49 pounds or 22 kg at 45° and 60 pounds or 27 kg at 60°.
Symptoms
Headache
Neck pain
Shoulder and arm pain
Respiratory compromise
Prevention
Avoid excessive usage and take frequent breaks
Avoid prolonged stable postures
Position the device such that it reduces stresses both on the head/neck and the upper part of the body.
Avoid high repetitions of movements such as prolonged typing
Avoid holding the large or heavy device in one hand for a long duration
Treatments
Physiotherapy is found to be very effective in treating the stress injury resulting from text neck. Rehabilitation can be designed as a 2-4 week program. In severe cases, pain relief is the main goal. In long-standing cases, pain medication, injection into joints between vertebrae or specific areas of tightened muscle tissue at which touch or pressure elicits pain or physiotherapy or acupuncture can be done.
Upani Omalka
References
Alisha l.Prevalence of neck disability due to text neck in the population of GOA and its assessment using a goniometer.Indian journal of physiotherapy.2019 March;8(3):57-59
Sonel A,Rahemun A,Nikita P,Asir J.Prevelance of text neck syndrome and SMS thumb among smartphone users in college-going students.Journal of public health.2019 June
Jyoti K.Internatinal journal of yogic,human movement and sports sciences 2019;4(1):732-735
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