‘iPosture’ causing us to miss more work
Posted December 1, 2014 8:10 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – As Canadians snap up things like smartphones and other electronics this Cyber Monday, doctors have a warning: “tech neck” or “iPosture” is taking a toll on our backs and shoulders.
It’s a funny name for an increasingly serious health issue. All that hunching and slumping over our devices is causing a lot of pain and missed work.
“One third of all missed work in Canada is due to a musculoskeletal problem, something to do with the joints, the back or the health of the muscles and joints of the body. It’s second only to the common cold,” says Dr. Genieve Burley, a chiropractor in Vancouver.
“We’re looking down at that device in our hands, or even a laptop, and we are seeing a lot of problems with the upper tract, upper neck, and shoulder area. The forward flexion of the neck is a really bad place for the upper shoulder muscles to have to support. It’s causing headaches, anterior rounding of the shoulders and problems with the upper back, which can actually start to shape the spine in a different way over time, if it’s maintained for several hours a day,” Burley tells News1130.
It’s most pronounced in younger Canadians, who can spend hours on their devices.
“This a new phenomenon. In my practice, I’m seeing a massive increase in teenagers who are suffering from migraines and having postural problems that I’m used to seeing in people who are in their 70s.”
Fighting fire with fire, the Canadian Chiropractic Association has developed an app called Straighten Up Canada to help prevent the problem.
“They’ve set up 12 exercises that deal with every posture stress we are seeing right now,” says Burley. “It can be used preventatively as a stand-alone program or use it adjunctively. If you are a runner or you’re going to the gym, you can use it as your cool down routine and you get a really good global stretching program for your back.”
Once you are familiar with it, the routine should take less than three minutes and Dr. Burley says a US study of the program shows people who had followed it for five weeks showed a marked increase in both their posture and their happiness.
“For three minutes a day, I think this is a very big gift to Canadians. Maybe we could be a leader internationally if we can start to get everyone on an active program and being a lot more mindful of their posture when they’re using their phones.”
Straighten Up Canada is available in both the Apple App and Google Play stores.
