What Is Text Neck and How Can Chiropractic Care Help?

Increased use of cellphones and digital devices has led to a new ailment known as "text neck." Looking down at these devices stresses the neck, causing pain and other symptoms. Luckily, you don't have to give up your phone to avoid text neck problems. Your chiropractor offers several therapies that can relieve your pain and prevent permanent damage to your neck.

Text Neck Explained

The seven vertebrae that make up the neck are designed to support about 10 pounds, the weight of the average head. Chiropractic Economics notes that dropping your head just two inches is about the same as adding 30 pounds of pressure to the neck.

Over time, the added pressure may begin to affect the muscles, discs, nerves, ligaments, and vertebrae in the neck, causing these text neck symptoms:

• Tight, Painful Muscles in the Neck, Shoulders, and Upper Back
• Muscle Spasms
• Headaches or More Frequent Migraines
• Lightheadedness and Dizziness
• Reduced Range of Motion
• Clicking Sound or Grinding Feeling in the Neck
• Heavy Feeling in the Head
• Tingling or Numbness in the Arms or Hands
• Muscle, Nerve, or Ligament Inflammation
• Changes to Your Gait

Without treatment, the ligaments that help hold the vertebrae in the neck together may stretch and loosen. As a result, the neck could lose its natural curve and become unstable. As the neck changes shape, blood vessels and nerves that travel through the neck to the brain can become compressed and trigger health problems that affect both physical and mental health, according to an article published in Frontiers in Neurology in 2024. Compression of blood vessels affects the amount of blood that reaches the brain. Mild compression of blood vessels could cause symptoms like lightheadedness or dizziness, while more severe compression might result in a stroke.

Text neck can also damage the spinal discs between the vertebrae, pinch nerves, or cause bone spurs or arthritis due to premature wear and tear.

How Your Chiropractor Can Help with Text Neck

Chiropractors offer natural treatments that ease symptoms and treat the source of neck pain. Depending on your symptoms, your chiropractor may recommend one or more of these treatments:

• Adjustments. Chiropractors use controlled force to realign vertebrae. Adjustments improve posture and range of motion, ease neck pain, and reduce pressure on nerves and blood vessels.
• Massage and Soft Tissue Therapy. These hands-on therapies ease pain, loosen tight muscles and tissues, and improve blood flow. Boosting blood flow increases the flow of blood and nutrients to the neck and helps damaged tissues heal more quickly. Endorphins and serotonin released during massage and other chiropractic treatments act as effective natural painkillers.
• Exercises. Exercises strengthen weak muscles in the neck, shoulders, and back. Performing the exercises recommended by your chiropractor can help you counteract the effects of text neck.

Preventing Text Neck

Your chiropractor may also offer suggestions that will help you prevent text neck symptoms, including:

• Changing the Position of Your Devices. It's best to view phones and devices at eye level. Use holders and stands to keep devices at the correct level if possible.
• Taking Breaks. Take a break at least every 30 minutes when using your devices.
• Stretching. Your chiropractor can demonstrate a few neck and shoulder stretches you can do during your device breaks. Performing these stretches several times per day can help you avoid pain and headaches.

Struggling with text neck pain? We can help! Contact our office to schedule an appointment with the chiropractor.

Sources:

Frontiers in Neurology: The Ligamentous Cervical Instability Etiology of Human Disease from the Forward Head-Facedown Lifestyle: Emphasis on Obstruction of Fluid Flow Into and Out of the Brain, 11/27/2024

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11638589/

Chiropractic Economics: Looking down: Text neck syndrome affects how we see the world, 7/16/2024

https://www.chiroeco.com/looking-down-how-text-neck-syndrome-affects-how-we-see-the-world/

Science Direct: Gait & Posture: The Relationship Between Forward Head Posture, Postural Control and Gait: A Systematic Review,10/2022

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966636222006099

WebMD: What to Know About “Text Neck,” 9/20/2024

https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-to-know-text-neck

NCBI: Lancet Rheumatology: Global, Regional, and National Burden of Neck Pain, 1990-2020, and Projections to 2050: A Systematic Analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021, 2/19/2024

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10897950/

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