Spinal pressure is exacerbated by cell phone use

The downward pressure of gravity is ever-present: statistics show that your lumbar intervertebral discs are under 100kg of pressure when you are standing with good posture; 125 when you are sitting with good posture. That is enough to overburden discs, especially when you are going around with an inferior set of supportive muscles. However, another way to overburden your spine is with poor posture, and cell phone use is conducive to poor posture: 

• The average human head weighs 10-12 pounds
• Every inch you hold your head forward while looking at your cell phone magnifies the weight of your head by up to 10 times per inch. 

Fixing forward head posture begins with awareness

At our office in Milpitas, we are seeing more young people than ever present with structural growth problems of the spine, including the formation of bone spurs, muscular deformity and premature osteoarthritis, all of which are being linked to poor posture and overuse of cell phones. So let’s start being aware of how our interaction with cell phones is hurting our spines. 

We begin by unwinding the layers of problems which cell phone overuse causes, beginning with the structures of the spine, the discs and the supportive soft tissues. By improving mobility of the spine, in particular the crucial motion segments in the cervical vertebrae and lumbar vertebrae, we return the spine to normal alignment and help you experience less pain. From here, we use therapeutic stretching and exercise to strengthen the spine and make maintaining good posture easier. If you are interested in minimizing the damage that cell phone use takes on your spine, give our office in Milpitas a call to schedule an appointment today.