How Phone Use Is Affecting Your Posture

As you read this sentence what are you using to read it? Well, of course you’re using your eyes, but what device are you staring at? It may be a phone, laptop, desktop, or tablet. Chances are it’s either a tablet or a phone, a device you can carry with you and that’s easy enough for you to walk around with and stare at as you take in every word. It leads me to my next question, what’s your posture like as you read information like this on your phone?

I’m going to declare that phone usage over the past years has changed your posture. The fact that we all spend so much time on our phones means that at some point we’re going to hang our heads and stare at the little screen as we rub our finger up or down trying to take in the next bit of data. It’s not just the hanging of the head either. Pay attention to how you sit. People tend to hunch their backs over and lurch their necks forward as they get comfortable to check their messages.

Here’s the scary part, you probably do this consistently. So many are getting “comfortable” in that posture I just mentioned that it’s no wonder so many are suffering from lower back and neck pain. Other strange pain areas may pop up from time to time also because of overuse. That’s right, overuse; think of it like this, you’re lying in bed in an awkward position as you type, swipe, or click and your shoulder gets tired. How often does your shoulder get tired from this?

What about other areas? You’re so focused on what’s on the screen that your lower back is screaming because you’re lower body is twisted, but it feels oddly comfortable and yet it’s not good for you. This is how it’s become. Phone use has changed the way we do just about everything. You can sit on your phone and conduct just about all your business and it’s easy for the time to drift away. Before you know it, it’s been a solid few hours you’ve been lying, sitting, or standing in a position that’s terrible for your body in the long run.

Of course it can’t be that bad, right? It’s just a few hours, wrong. The problem is the consistency. It’s a few hours daily of the same thing and that doesn’t account for all the other threats to your body, like your activities of daily living and how you go about conducting these. You think your shoulder isn’t getting work, but when you have to reach something in the cupboard, then you’re on your phone in an uncomfortable position for hours, and then you go do something else, it’s no wonder you start massaging it later.

It’s safe to say we’re all spending too much time on the phone and we’re doing it consistently in bad posture. It’s going to add up and for millions it’s already doing so. They don’t realize that hunching their back and lurching the neck forward as they read articles like this is contributing to the issue. They also don’t realize there are much safer ways to go about this process.

If you’re hanging your head over as you read this, I challenge you to adjust your posture. If you do this on a regular with your phone you’re hurting yourself. You’re contributing to possible back pain and neck problems later. These issues aren’t uncommon and they’re affecting the general public at younger ages. Children are now using phones and many of them have poor posture at younger ages and many are complaining about neck pain.

Adjustments need to be made and fast; the screen at the office, the way you use the phone when you lie down, and the way you read or listen to your favorite music for hours in poor posture and more needs to change. It’s important you start paying closer attention to your posture and overall body alignment.

It’s no secret that millions of people are suffering from pain problems in their lower back, neck, and shoulders, but our sometimes excessive phone use accompanied by poor postural habits have contributed to these issues. It’s time we seriously considered our phone use and adjust the way we keep our posture when we use the device.

If you’re interested in learning how to fix your posture, check out our NPI-Certified Posture Specialist™ program. You’ll learn how to analyze, adjust, and correct posture not just for yourself but for your clients and community. Even better, we are offering a $50 off discount on this program through the end this week (March 25, 2018). Use promo code CPS50 and start your journey as an NPI-Certified Posture Specialist™.

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