Text Neck syndrome
Photo credit: youth.gov.sg
Text neck syndrome (aka text neck) is real, unfortunately with the increased use of technical devices especially during these pandemic days it will only become increasingly common. Text neck is when the head is positioned forward and hung. I see it everywhere, and unfortunately more and more in kids too, puberty (especially in girls) has the same effect.
Now that working remotely is becoming the new norm we are not moving as much we used to. Our Kids aren’t either, no more walking to school or the bus stop, they aren’t sitting at their desks looking up at their teacher or turning their heads or bodies to speak to their class mates. Trying to get my kids to leave the house during the Spring lockdown, especially in the gloomy weather, was a battle that some days I just didn’t have the energy for. Literally my kids went from an active lifestyle to a sedentary one, they just didn’t understand that even walking between classrooms is all part of good movement and necessary for our bodies, and our minds. It worries me that this pandemic is not only affecting us emotional and socially but might just end up having longer term negative effects on all our bodies no matter our age or fitness levels.
We are all literally shaped by the world we live in, like our feet are shaped by the choice of shoe we wear. We rely so heavily on our devices and more often than not we are so overwhelmed and busy that we are not taking enough breaks to counteract the effects these devices are having on us.
Unfortunately for the younger generation the use of mobiles and other devices will have a greater effect on their growing bodies, not only have they started at a much younger age but they seem to use phones for many more reasons than adults do.
There is much research to show that our posture can affect the overall health of our bodies. The hung position of our head increases the load on our cervical spine, this not only affects our posture but also increases the load on our internal organs. Over a prolonged period of time the dropped position of our head will cause tightness in the sub-occipital muscles. Tightness in these muscles can lead to headaches as well as vision issues and can ultimately affect our balance.
It’s important for all of us to start thinking about how we can rebalance the body, taking breaks, going for walks and positioning the screen at eye level are obvious ones, but there are many stretches too that can help bring us back into alignment. But it doesn’t stop with stretches, in order to retain good alignment and help undo the collapsed position of the upper body we need to strengthen too, particularly the back which includes our necks (the cervical spine).
My passion for Pilates not only comes from how it helped to rebuild my body after my car accident but how all the exercises are mindful of the human body in both alignment and movement. Even the traditional exercises that Joseph designed over 100 years ago looked at ways to undo the environmental stresses put on our bodies, he incorporated stretches and movement for the cervical spine into his exercises. He designed all his Apparatus recognizing that incorporating resistance through the use of the springs and gravity not only helped to improve strength but also proprioceptive feedback, this helped to keep the body alert whilst working through different planes of movement.
This week I am offering a free week of access to my videos – under the section Roll, release and alignment matters you will find a video to help against the negative effects of these devices plus many more videos to help keep us moving and functional.
To access these videos please go to