In our offices, we have been seeing more and more young people seeking evaluation and treatment of chief complaints consisting of headaches, neck pain, shoulder pain, arm pain, as well as numbness and tingling of the upper extremeties.These young patients have two things in common. First, there is an early onset of degeneration of the neck with associated decrease or reversal of the normal curve in the neck. Second, they all use texting as the primary way to stay connected to their family and friends.
When someone has their head flexed forward while looking down at the screen on their hand held mobile device for long periods of time, the bones and muscles of the spine adapt to that posture and postural change ensues. This will cause changes in the curve, supporting ligaments, tendons, and musculature, as well as the bony segments. Eventually there may be nerve involvement, muscle spasms and pain.
Complaints have been increasing regarding neck pain from texting, arm pain from texting, shoulder pain from texting, hand pain from texting, wrist pain from texting, thumb pain from texting, low back pain from texting, headaches from texting, eye pain from texting.