Chronic, acute neck pain is so prevalent in the world today that it’s easy to assume it’s a natural part of life.
Don’t be fooled. It’s not.
Instead, the wave of new cases of chronic neck pain can almost all be attributed to “text neck,” a condition caused by looking down at your phone too long. The average time we are looking down at our phones is 4 hours daily! While changing your behavior can help, it’s often necessary to visit a chiropractor as well.
What Is Text Neck?
The popularity of the smartphone in the past decade means that many of us are spending more time crouched over a small screen that our bodies cannot evolve to deal with. This tilted angle puts unprecedented strain on your neck and shoulder muscles, which can lead to chronic pain.
Just how common is text neck today? A recent study found that almost 80 percent of US adults keep their phone within reach at all times, meaning that they are looking down at it for hours each day. This leads to far more pressure than usual on your neck, which can result in lifelong damage to your cervical spine and stabbing neck pain. While other activities (like reading a book) can put your neck under the same strain, cell phones have made the posture far more common, which is why the condition has exploded around the world.
3 Ways to Reduce Text Neck
If you aren’t ready to toss aside your cell phone for good, there are still measures you can take to reduce the strain of text neck and keep your neck healthy for the long term. Follow these three tips to prevent permanent damage to the structure of your neck.
- Pay attention to your posture:
How often are you keeping your neck at a slant? Monitor your posture and correct when you see yourself crouching, and you can prevent the worst of text neck.
- Keep screens at eye level:
Don’t keep your phone in your lap, instead hold it up to your face so that you don’t bend your head down to look at it.
- Take technology breaks:
If your eyes get bleary from staring at a screen, you can set alarms for every thirty minutes to remind yourself to get up and stretch.
When to Visit Your Chiropractor for Text Neck
You can’t afford to ignore the symptoms of text neck. For those looking for chiropractic care in Naples, Hiler Chiropractic & Neurology can help you get your symptoms under control and prevent any long-term damage. To learn more, you can book an appointment today. We look forward to bringing you to better health soon.
BANG!
In the seconds after a car accident, you’ll likely go through a full body check and feel instant relief when everything feels fine. However, the real damage to your body from an auto wreck comes long after you’ve taken your car to the mechanics. In fact, the long-term damage from whiplash often doesn’t reveal itself for several weeks after the accident, meaning you might miss the optimal treatment window before you even know anything is wrong.
To avoid this problem, it’s important to seek auto injury treatment after every car accident – no matter how minor. For car accidents in Naples, Hiler Chiropractic & Neurology will help your body get back to full health without leaving you with lingering symptoms.
The Impacts of an Auto Accident on Your Back
Slamming into your seatbelt might save your life, but it inevitably leads to varying levels of whiplash that can cause lingering problems for the connective tissue in your upper back and neck. This damage can reveal itself through a wide variety of symptoms, including chronic neck pain, upper back and shoulder soreness, lower back pain or chronic fatigue.
Numerous factors in a car accident like your speed, direction, headrest position, body position, and seatbelt protection will all make a difference in the overall severity of your symptoms, making them almost impossible to predict. Your body also undergoes shock after an accident that works to numb you, meaning that you often won’t feel like anything is wrong until hours, even days later. For this reason, the best reason to avoid long-term pain after your accident is to seek chiropractic care right away.
Generally, the best time to see a chiropractor for auto injury treatment is within a few days of the incident. This ensures that your care provider can take an X-ray of your spine and see evidence of whiplash injuries, even if you haven’t experienced any symptoms yes. The less time that part of your spine is out of alignment, the easier it is to get it back to normal again.
Chiropractic Care After an Auto Injury Treatment
When you meet with our team at Hiler Chiropractic & Neurology in Naples after a car accident, we will systematically go through your spine to see if anything is out of alignment from your wreck. We also have special Digital Motion X-rays that view your spine in motion to detect hidden muscle or ligament injuries. From there, we will use a variety of techniques like massage therapy, exercise therapy, and other treatment modalities to reposition and strengthen your back and neck so that you experience as few long-term symptoms as possible.
Remember, feeling fine is no indicator that you aren’t physically hurt after an accident. Book a consultation appointment with Hiler Chiropractic & Neurology today, and we will help you reduce your risk of suffering long-term complications from your wreck.
