health & wellness

Tech Neck'

The painful price of staying connected.

y

It may be beautiful on the
outside but it's what's on th
10
inside that counts

ou may not be hunched
over an assembly line for 10
hours a day, but 21st-century
technology may be even worse for your
posture. Tech Neck is the new posture
syndrome that can have big health
consequences, especially as many people
now spend four to eight hours a day
texting, tweeting and typing on smart-
phones and tablets.
Research shows just how much
posture stress from tech device use is
hurting our health. According to a re-
cent study, looking down at your phone
or computer with just 15 degrees of
forward head tilt more than doubles the
pressure on the neck and upper back.
An adult head typically weighs 10
to 12 pounds when it's in a neutral
position. But as soon as you begin to
tilt your head forward, the amount of
weight your neck has to support in-
creases dramatically. Researchers found
tilting your head forward just 15 degrees
surges the amount of pressure on your
spine to 27 pounds. Depending on how
far forward your phone habits make you
tilt your head, it can add up to a whop-
ping 60 pounds of pressure on your neck
and spine.
When you consider, on average,
people spend two to four hours ev-
ery day with their heads tilted down
texting, surfing, gaming and reading on
smart phones, the increased pressure
on the neck adds up and stresses spinal
joints and discs. It's even worse with
young adults: One study showed col-
lege women spent 10 hours a day on
their devices, while college men spent
eight hours.
Anything you do repeatedly, espe-
cially for so many hours a day trains
and changes body posture and func-

Dr. Steven Weiniger of Atlanta,
an internationally known pos-
ture expert and author of Stand
Taller Live Longer, An Anti-Aging
Strategy, offers these tips to
combat Tech Neck:
• Move more. Take active posture
breaks during the day.
• Keep a level head. Lift the phone
to eye level.
• Pull your elbows in and roll your
shoulders back and down.
• Keep your core engaged. It sup-
ports your torso, which supports
your neck.

tionality. Doctors are seeing increas-
ing numbers of people, from middle
school age to older adults, complaining
of neck aches, back pain and pinched
nerves with many showing signs of
early arthritis.
From vision problems to early lines
and wrinkles forming around continu-
ously bent necks, Tech Neck is making
people look and feel old before their
time. New studies are linking sitting
and texting posture with breathing
problems, heart disease and other con-
ditions. Paying attention to how you
use your body is important in keeping
your body healthy, pain-free and mov-
ing well.

❑

$250,000 Grant To Help Fight Children's Leukemia

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West Bloomfield, MI 48323

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Children Hospital of
Awareness Month.
Michigan Foundation
"I am honored to receive
(CHMF) has received a
this grant award from Hyundai
$250,000 Hyundai Scholar
Hope On Wheels," Taub said.
Hope Grant for pediatric
"Their support of pediatric
cancer research.
cancer research is essential to
The grant will support
developing new treatments
the work of Jeffrey Taub,
that may improve outcomes for
M.D., chief, pediatric
children."
Dr. Jeffrey
oncology, DMC Children's Taub
The $250,000 grant to Taub
Hospital of Michigan, to
was officially presented dur-
focus on developing new therapies
ing a Hope on Wheels Handprint
for children with acute myeloid leu-
Ceremony at Children's Hospital of
kemia who have relapsed after treat-
Michigan on Sept. 3.
ment with standard chemotherapy.
During the ceremony, Hope on
CHMF is one of 45 recipients
Wheels commemorated Detroit-area
nationwide to receive a 2015 Hyundai children affected by cancer by captur-
Scholar Grant during September,
ing their handprints on a white 2016
National Childhood Cancer
Hyundai Tucson.

❑

60 September 24 • 2015

JN