For all those ‘surfing the web’ on the way to work, please spare a thought for your neck!
Although human beings are generally particularly splendid it’s fair to say we have a couple of anatomical flaws. From shoulders that surrender pretty much all their stability for mobility to balancing one of the heaviest aspects of our bodies on what can only be described as a tooth pick. Confused by the latter? We’re talking about your head!
One of the most common injuries we treat at Physio4life is neck pain and we don’t think that it’s just a coincidence that there has been a surge in cliental since owning an iPad became pretty sexy!
We would love you all to think about your commutes, how much time you spend staring down at a screen be it a phone or an iPad and do the maths. If we balance a heavy object (the head) directly on top of a narrower object (the neck) the forces which are required to keep the heavy object there are easier to obtain due to the process of gravity. However, if we off set the heavy object so it balances at a 45 degree angle we can easily imagine that it would place stress on the attachments that are holding it in place.
So for all those that love to read or check emails etc. on the way to work please spare a thought for the neck and what you are putting the poor muscles through as they strain to hold the weight of the head (on average 2kg) and fight gravity! If your neck is aching before you’ve even made it through the office doors then you need to think about your posture, your maths skills and the question… Do you really need to do those emails before the day has even begun?