7 Ways to Prevent Text Neck

Our head is heavier at an angle than it is at a neutral position. That means our increasing usage of smartphones for reading, texting, etc is putting undue pressure on our spine

- Jens Erik Gould

The number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to surpass 2 billion next year. For doctors, that means 2 billion people susceptible to having pains in the neck—literally. There’s growing concern in the medical community that prolonged periods of looking down at smartphones can increase stress on the cervical spine, a condition colloquially referred to as “text neck.”

The physiology goes like this: the human head weighs between 4.5 kg and 5.5 kg when it’s in a neutral position. But that weight increases to some ~12 kg when the head is tilted downwards at a 15-degree angle, ~18 kg at 30 degrees, and ~27 kg at 60 degrees, according to a study by New York-based spine surgeon Kenneth Hansraj. This is no problem when sending a simple text. But two to four hours a day reading and texting on smartphones, tablets and laptops? The gravitational pull puts undue stress on the spine.