Are you logged in on Facebook at the moment? You are maybe in front of your computer or you are holding your phone in your hands cheating with your friends. If you are doing anything from the above stop doing that and check yourself. The posture that you take while doing this is forcing up to 60 pounds of unnecessary stress on your spine.
Studies showed that in average people spent from 2 to 4 hours a day staring at their smart phones. And some people spent even up to ten hours doing this. According to the study by Surgical Technology International journal this position might lead to temporary or long lasting damage on the spine.
The weight of adult head is about 10 to 12 pounds and that is the weight that is put to your spine when sitting or standing (when you’re head is not tilted down and your back not slouched). By titling you head you increase the weight that spine needs to support and this pressure can do a big harm.
Studies show that tilting your head 15 degrees forward increases the amount of stress to 27 pounds. Tilt 30 degrees and it becomes 40 pounds. Tilt 45 degrees and it becomes 49 pounds and the further you move it the bigger the stress is and it can reach even up to 60 pounds. Unluckily by staring at the smartphones people tilt their heads at 60 degrees.
According to Kenneth K. Hansraj, M.D., chief of spine surgery at New York Spine Surgery & Rehabilitation Medicine and author of the study this has a lot of negative effects on the health. It causes a pain in the neck and puts stress on your muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use facebook anymore. You can do a little adjustment that can make big difference. Experts recommend taking proper posture which means to put your shoulder blades and your shoulders aligned and your back in neutral position.
With this position the pressure will be on your arms because you will have to lift up your smartphone higher but this is better than putting the pressure on your spine.
Sourced: stethnews
