Prolonged use of a cell phone can cause neck pain

A new study published in PLOS One reveals that prolonged cell phone use, and in particular text messaging, can cause neck pain and impact the soft tissues that surround the spine. When we receive text messages, we bend our necks to read and respond to them. This movement, which some users repeat hundreds of times a day, can be detrimental to physical health.

Researchers at Khon Kaen University in Thailand, seeking to elucidate the cause of a syndrome called "neck of text", have highlighted the risks badociated with this type of posture.

The Khon Kaen team filmed 30 smartphone users aged 18 to 25, who spent up to eight hours a day on their phones. Their ergonomic risk levels were badessed with the help of a Rapid Upper Limb Assessment Tool (RULA), which is often used to badyze the posture of office and home users. Laptops. Participants in the study scored an average of 6 points, well beyond an acceptable score of one or two points. "The results have highlighted inappropriate postural problems in the neck, trunk and legs that cause musculoskeletal disorders," says lead researcher Suwalee Namwongsa.

"Smartphone users slightly lean their neck slightly forward when they read and write SMS. They sometimes bend or twist their necks and put their upper body and legs in uncomfortable positions, "says Dr. Boucaut, a physiotherapist. "These postures exert uneven pressure on the soft tissues around the spine, which can cause discomfort."

These latest findings follow another study by the same research team, which was also published this month in the journal Work. Interviewed, a panel of 779 students using a smartphone admitted to feel aches and pains: 32% complained of neck pain, 26% had sore shoulders, 20% were disturbed by the back and 19% by the wrists and hands.

Musculoskeletal disorders were more common among students who spent the most time on their smartphone (more than five hours a day) and those who smoked and did not exercise.