Exploring "Text Neck" and the SmartMoves Team is growing!

WELCOME BERM AND EMILY!

We are very excited to welcome massage therapist Berm and administrative staff member Emily to our team.

Berm is a Dulwich Hill local who has a wealth of experience in some of Sydney’s best massage centres. We are excited to have him bring his skill to our clinic.

Berm is also a qualified Pilates instructor. We are looking at getting him to offer 1-1 Pilates in the near future.

Emily, another Inner West local, joins our administrative team. She is currently half way through her physiotherapy degree and is also a qualified Pilates instructor. She has already brought a great level of enthusiasm and energy to the clinic.

TEXT NECK

How many hours a day do you spend on your smartphone?.

By Sam Mullany. Physiotherapist.

 

“Text neck”, real issue or gimmicky tagline? Some medical professionals are referring to the issue as an epidemic in mainstream media. SO, how worried should we be about “text neck”? After all our bodies are the most resilient and adaptable systems we know of.

The body is designed to move… constantly. So, when we sustain a single posture for hours on end, the body is going isn’t going to like it a lot. If this sustained static posture is associated with an area or muscle group that we may often neglect in the gym or home workout, then surely these are the ingredients for a lot more prevalent neck pain?

Well, it’s not that simple unfortunately and the many studies exploring this topic over the years have produced conflicting results. Biomechanics studies in laboratory settings have found some interesting differences in how prolonged device usage can result in increased loading of the neck and spine. For instance, one study found that more neck flexion was found in text messaging than other phone application use and that texting whilst sitting results in more neck flexion again, one found a difference in using a phone with one hand vs. two hands. But does all this biomechanical mumbo-jumbo mean anything to the average person in everyday life?

 

Well, it seems the answer is… not really. In fact, the studies that go beyond just a pure biomechanical assessment and look at neck position in association with pain can’t really find any clear links. However, these studies only look at short term neck pain, and I believe the real danger is prolonged text neck positioning repetitively over a longer period of time and for those of us with existing neck issues. So the jury is still out and more research needs to be done to explore this issue.

My take home message regarding ‘text neck’ is to give yourself adequate and regular breaks. Especially if using your phone/device for periods longer than 10mins, break up the task by putting it on hold for 1min and looking up at the ceiling and then over left and right shoulder, maybe even lift the hands up over head slowly to “wake up” or energize all those muscles hanging on tension whilst we stare down into our phone.

Is neck pain troubling your day to day function? Drop in for a consult and targeted strategies to ease that pain

We hope that everyone is enjoying their new freedoms and is enjoying the build up to the festive season.

We will remain open for physio, exercise and massage over the Christmas/New Years period with modified hours. We will release a timetable for this period shortly.