New Delhi: Doctors in the capital say they are seeing an increasing number of patients complaining of neck pain and stiffness that can be directly attributed to excessive use of mobile phones and digital devices. The syndrome is being referred to as ‘text neck’, caused by prolonged duration of bending over electronic gadgets.
Studies have reported that an average consumer spends around three hours per day on an average on mobile devices in India. Excessive usage and poor posture while using mobile devices and other tech-gadgets causes repetitive stress injury on the neck and spine.
“The term text neck was first coined by a US chiropractor, Dr. Dean Fisherman in 2008 when he observed the hunched posture of one of his patients while texting. While texting or working on mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and other electronic gadgets and handheld devices, the neck is most often bent downwards and the spine of the person is hunched forward,” said Dr. R.K. Pandey, senior consultant, Orthopedics and Joint Replacement, Venkateshwar Hospital, Dwarka.
“The human brain which weighs four to five kg is supported by the neck. Reportedly, even a little forward bending of the neck causes a good amount of tension on the muscles, ligaments, and tendons, of the neck and shoulders, he said. Urban population is more at risk, with Delhi having over 4 crore mobile phone connections. Doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said that they see at least five to six such cases each month. “Most of these patients belong to the younger generation. One of the causes of increase in such cases is that smartphones have become cheaper and more number of people are able to afford them now,” said Dr. Gaggan Chadha.
The hospital is also seeing cases where the smartphone addiction can cause repetitive strain to hand joints. The damaging aspects of text neck which if not prevented can have long-term drastic affects. “Untreated text neck can lead to degenerative spine disorders, muscle tightness and pain, even numbers and tingling down the arm.
