Everyone is doing it. Look at a crowd and you can easily see several people looking down at their phones and rapidly moving their thumbs. The newest research is indicating that people are texting more than calling each other. The habit of texting is much higher amongst the newer generations, but everybody is texting and using smartphones and tablets more and more. The recent research by Business News Daily reports that we Americans are spending more than 12 hours a week texting. The position of the body and the time spent in that position is creating an epidemic is our society. A person texting is usually sitting with their phone in their lap. The head is bent forward and down while the eyes focus on the phone. The average person will also roll in their hips and sit in a slouched position. The resulting epidemic is ANTERIOR HEAD SYNDROME (AHS). As a result, Chiropractors are having to correct AHS more than ever before.

A normal spine is completely straight when viewed from the front, and has three curves when viewed from the side. In Anterior Head Syndrome, the person starts to lose the curve in their neck as the head juts forward. If the person continues to assume this posture for long periods, over time, secondary conditions associated with abnormal forward head posture may develop, such as:

For every inch your head posture sits forward, the head gains 4.5kgs (10 pounds) in weight. Imagine a bowling ball weighing about the average weight of the human head, about 15 pounds. If you were holding the ball on top of your shoulders you could balance it easily. Now extend your arms out while holding this ball. What happens within seconds is you feel the pressure from the ball in your entire Spine. You would start to feel that way just by holding the bowling ball for few seconds with texting you would be doing it for much longer periods of time. The body would start to misalign itself into an abnormal range. It is obvious why there is huge concern about the time spent texting, the spine, and the health of the person who has developed Anterior Head Syndrome.

Awareness of the correct neck and shoulder posture is the first step toward correction. A great way to start correcting poor neck posture is through getting adjusted and doing exercises which are designed to help gain control over postural neck muscles which have become weak and fatigued over time. Ask Drs. Pam and Steve for more information!