Android App Fights Scourge of 'Text Neck®'

by EricMack on Jul 23rd, 2010, 7:28 pm

As if carpal tunnel, driving while texting and the possibility that your cell phone might be seeding a tumor in your brain weren't enough, meet another new ailment of the information age -- Text Neck®. 

The phrase was coined by Florida chiropractor, exercise physiologist and entrepreneur Dean Fishman, who tells Daniweb that he came up with the phrase after beginning to see "an increase in frequency of younger people presenting to my office with complaints of headaches, neck and arm pain and discomfort." 

He says all the young patients used texting as a primary form of communication and spent a lot of time in front screens such as laptops and gaming systems. In other words, they were spending an inordinate amount of time with their head tilted forward and down and that poor posture puts extra pressure on bones, muscles and joints, leading to the symptoms of text neck. 

But Fishman tells us a sore neck is just the beginning of the potential health problems tied to too much texting and screen time.

"Medical research has shown that long term forward head posture will cause early spinal arthritis, disc degeneration, headaches, up to a 30% decrease in lung capacity to just name a few conditions. A survey was conducted with 6,000 chronic headache sufferers and the only common finding among them was the loss or reversal of the normal curve in the neck."

Like any good doctor (or entrepreneur), Fishman has a way to treat his diagnosis. He's helped to design an app currently available on the Android market that alerts texters when their posture is putting them at risk of Text Neck.

"The app works off of the accelerometer. It senses the pitch angle of the phone and alerts the user," explains Fishman. "In order for you to actually see the screen comfortably you have to hold it with proper posture otherwise it alerts you with the indicator turning red, and an optional vibration and beep."

The app also includes exercises to combat the onset of Text Neck®.

"The exercises are designed and have been shown (to) increase the strength and endurance of the postural muscles that are affected by this Text Neck® presentation," says Fishman.

Preliminary medical research in recent years seems to support the notion of a connection between texting and neck pain, but many doctors in the field say more research is required. 

Fishman's app is available for a one-time fee of $2.99.

Images courtesy Neurotilt.

News Story Tags: android, androidmarket, app, health, texting 

 Chiropractors Caution That Texting Causes Serious Problems For Teens
Posted by BrowserBoy on Jul 7, 2010 in Finance 

Cell phones, once considered a luxury item, are now a mainstay of modern life. most parents see them as a crucial part of keeping kids safe as they can contact or be contacted day or night. While this solves some problems, it raises others.

For today's teen, using their phone to send text messages is a way of life. Because text messages are seen as less intrusive than phone calls, many teens would rather text than talk. They rely on it as instant communication when talking is taboo and email too slow. In short texting is very popular.

Consider these recently posted facts by Christina Warren on the Mashable Blog,

"75% of teens have cellphones, up from 45% back in 2004.

Thirty-three percent of teens send more than 100 texts per day.

Teenage boys send an average of 30 text messages per day and girls send an average of 80."

Because so many teens are texting, it is becoming common for them to experience joint problems at young ages. Warn your child about the dangers of continuous texting. Let them know that if they have pain or swelling in their joints, it is serious. In addition to obvious problems with hands and wrists, Chiropractors are noticing serious spinal changes as well. The forward head position that most people assume as they use electronic devices puts considerable pressure on their spine and over time can change the curvature of their neck. Did you know that each inch of forward head posture can increase the weight of your head on your spine by an additional 10 pounds? That means if your teen looks down as he texts, it adds 20 to 30 pounds of pressure on his neck. Over time, this added pressure can flatten or reverse the normal C curve in his neck leading to decreased immune function, neck pain, headaches, shoulder pain or numbness and tingling in his arms. even worse, this deformity in the spine pulls the rest of the spine out of alignment affecting every system in the body. Clearly we need to warn our teens about what they are doing to themselves.

No one expects teens to give up their phones but parents should ask them to think about how much they are using them and consider cutting back. They should also think about their posture and how it might be affecting them over time. our world has changed and we have to learn how to be safe as we adapt to it.

Chiropractors Caution That Texting Causes Serious Problems For Teens

Text Neck® - The Result of Poor Texting Posture

The typical U.S. mobile subscriber sends and receives more text messages than telephone calls. U.S. teens between the ages of 13 to 17 are the most intense users of texting, sending and receiving an average of 1,742 messages per month!

The posture we assume while texting and e-mailing from mobile devices-using our thumbs to type, crunched over a tiny keyboard-is unnatural. That said, it only presents problems when we do it constantly without giving our body enough breaks

Here are a few tips to help you limit the amount of damage you are doing to your neck while using a mobile device.

• Reduce your keystrokes. More keystrokes equals more more time in an unhealthy posture, so keep your messages brief and use word recognition tools when possible.
• Assume proper texting posture. Hold your phone directly in front of your face while texting or reading email to avoid bending your neck downward.
• Take regular breaks. Doing any repetitive task for long periods of time without a break is a bad idea. Make it a habit to stop and take a break regularly to let your body recover.
• Orient your hands into a neutral posture. The wrist should be relatively straight during any typing activity. Avoid twisting your wrists into odd angles, as this will cause additional stress to the hand and forearm muscles and lead to chronic inflammation and pain.
• Use alternate fingers. Most people use their thumbs to text or write e-mails from their mobile devices. Although it may seem awkward at first, try alternating between fingers to give the thumbs a break.

Special thanks to Dr. Fishman of the Text Neck® Institute for bringing this health topic to our attention.