Smart Phones

Smart phones have become a large part of our world. Everywhere you look you are likely to find people staring down at their handheld devices.

People that maintain this fixed neck position for too long often feel very achy and sore when they look up. Our body is not designed to handle this prolonged position of the neck. When we hang our head forward we rely on the posterior neck muscles to hold our head in a fixed position. Stress is also placed on the ligaments between vertebrae. This adaptation of the ligaments is known as "Creep." Creep means repetitive stress on a ligament will change the length of the ligament over time. Our body tends to adapt to poor postures and this causes the soreness in the neck when we move away from these positions.

Holding the phone up at eye-level allows you to maintain a neutral head position (neither flexed nor extended) and avoid aggravating muscle and ligament tissue in our neck. This posture should also be practiced when using office phone to avoid work injury.

Consult your Chiropractor for other tips and prevention techniques.