Tech Neck is Epidemic
We have all heard of “tech neck” by now. We chirp at our teens with their nose buried in their phone “get off your phone and look at me”! Apple now gives us stats on our screen time with a recent update called Screen Time.
It’s an epidemic.
As chiropractors, we study and diagnose abnormal curvatures of the spinal column. A normal, healthy cervical spine has a curve and is aligned with the rest of the spine.
Tech neck causes the neck to lose its curve, causing it to straighten putting pressure and tension on the spinal cord and brain stem. Sound serious? It can be devastating!
Technology Neck and Sitting at Work or School
We as chiropractors focus on spinal and neurological correction are concerned with the society’s use of technology and desk jobs.
Both of these activities cause a tremendous amount of slow and steady damage to your spine and neck.
The biggest challenge is that bending over technology or sitting at work or school doesn’t cause pain today. But it will cause a slow erosion of your posture over time.
More dangerous than a car accident???
I think this type of physical stress on your spine and nerve system can be more damaging than an obvious trauma like a car accident or sports injury.
At least with trauma, people know they are hurt and most people do something about it.
Sitting at work and bending over technology just erodes your spinal and neurological health without you really knowing about it.
Yes, you may have a stiff lower back and neck after you get out of your office chair but usually once you get moving that stiffness goes away.
It’s what You don’t know that hurts you
What also is going on is a reprogramming of your posture centre in your brain and central nerve system.
Your nerve system is un-learning what proper upright posture looks like and this damaging pattern is reinforced with every hour we sit or are curled over our mobile devices.
So even though you are standing, or working out and moving around, your nerve systems dominant pattern is sitting or curled down over your device.
This causes the slow erosion of posture over time, damages the delicate joints of your spine and ultimately will cause chronic pressure on your nerve system.
Even then you may not feel it
And even after that, you may not have any pain at all.
Depending on the type of nerve that is getting hit, you may not feel any discomfort.
Researchers tell us that only 5-7% of the nerves in your body are designed to perceive pain. The rest of the nerves are for functions like digestion, muscle activation, liver function, heartbeat and breathing (this is a long list).
So, hypothetically, you could have over 90% of your nerve system impacted and you still “feel great”. Obviously that’s not likely, but even if its 20 or 25% of your nerve system impacted you still could be very, very ill AND still feel like you are healthy.
The Power of the Chiropractic Adjustment
Postural and structural corrective chiropractic (specific spinal adjustments) has been shown to improve general health status by 47% in a study of chronic pain patients(1) compared to Celebrex or Vioxx (18%) and acupuncture (15%)
Research like this still leaves me in awe of the ability of the human body to heal.
There is no time in our lives where we can not afford to have a spine and nerve system at 100%. From early development on into our elderly years, our spine and nerve system is the engine that keeps our bodies and brains running.
Today’s structural and posture based chiropractic focuses on returning your posture to it’s best position so you are healing and functioning your best every day, all day.
Schedule a comprehensive chiropractic spinal assessment including digital x rays for you and your family as the first step to combatting Tech Neck!
Talk to you soon,
Dr. J
