New Delhi: In today’s time, the use of smartphones and laptops has increased a lot. In such a situation, along with the convenience of gadgets, many types of diseases are also coming. So if you hand over a smartphone to your kids to get rid of them, then this report is an alarming call for you. America’s plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Westrich has told about a new type of disease due to excessive use of smartphones. Dr. Richard says that due to excessive use of smartphone, tingling is being seen along with numbness of the hand. Dr. Westrich says that this tech neck is the new carpal tunnel syndrome.
20 percent of patients suffer from tech neck
This syndrome can cause not only headache, pain in the neck and shoulders, and tingling in the hands. Doctors say that tech neck (also known as text neck) is quite common in India as well. Doctors say that about 20% of the patients coming to the OPD are suffering from tech neck. The most worrying thing about this is that most of them are children. There are many reasons that lead to tech neck, most of them lifestyle related. Kids are spending longer periods of time with tech and gadgets than ever before.
Cases increasing in children, teenagers
Dr Ashish Chowdhary, Senior Consultant and Head, Orthopedics and Joint Replacement at Aakash Healthcare Super Specialty Hospital in Delhi, says that online schooling has increased the number of hours spent sitting and working on laptops. Poor posture, lack of physical activity, exposure to sunlight and poor diet are some of the factors that increase the risk of tech neck. Dr. Chaudhary says that the most worrying thing that I have seen is that earlier people who used to complain of this disease were middle-aged. Most of the patients now a days are teenagers and school going children.
can cause mental stress
Dr H S Chhabra, Medical Director, Indian Spinal Injuries Center (ISIC), said that working on a laptop or continuously texting on a mobile puts a lot of stress on the ligaments, muscles and joints of the neck. This especially happens if your posture is not correct. Dr. Chhabra said that there may be tension in these and there may be pain in the neck. He said that since the muscles of the neck get stiff. This can cause swelling at the site of their attachment to the skull. In such a situation, if this pain persists for a long time, it also affects the psychology of the person.
How to become techie by using mobile
How does looking down at a mobile gadget screen and tilting your head while texting for long periods of time lead to tech neck? An article in the International Journal of Environmental Health and Public Health states that when the head is tilted forward, the weight of the head on the spine increases dramatically. In fact, a fully grown head weighs about 5 kg in a neutral position. The more the head tilts, the more the pressure on the neck increases. At 15° (about 12 kg) the weight of the head on the spine is more than doubled. At 30° this weight becomes 18.14 kg. When the head is tilted at 45°, it becomes 22.23 kg. If the tilt of the head is 60° (27.22 kg), the weight of the head exerts more than five times the effect. Not only is the degree of neck flexion relevant in this situation, but the frequency of head flexion also affects the physiology of the neck. The article states that in fact, persistent forward bending can alter the cervical spine, curvature, supporting ligaments, tendons, musculature, bony segments.
increased time from 6 to 8 hours
Dr. Rajesh Malhotra, professor and head of orthopedics at AIIMS, says that many people who work on laptops or use smartphones for long periods of time, their profile turns neck forward. The average time on screen has increased from six to eight hours, he added. This definitely leads to poor posture and the complications associated with it.
