

Technology's Impact on Posture
Technology is changing our posture. People, on average, spend about 2 to 4 hours per day with their heads tilted forward, reading or texting on their smartphones. That results in anywhere from 700 to 1,400 additional hours per year with one’s neck in a less-than-ideal position. And our kids are not immune from this, as they may spend up to an extra 5,000 hours in poor posture due to increased technology usage (Hansraj).
A new term to add to your lexicon is text neck, what happens when we’re hunched over our smartphones and tablets for far too many hours in the day. When looking down, our necks must work harder to support our heads. The average adult head weighs an average of 10-12 pounds. In a recent study, researchers (see link at the bottom of post) evaluated neck strain with our heads in varying positions of forward bend.
Here’s what they found:
- Tilting the head forward 15 degrees: forces seen by the neck increase to 27 pounds!
- Tilting the head forward 30 degrees: forces seen by the neck increase to 40 pounds!
- Tilting the head forward 45 degrees: forces seen by the neck increase to 49 pounds!
- Tilting the head forward 60 degrees: forces seen by the neck increase to 60 pounds!
Source: https://www.phschiropractic.com/webres/File/iTrac%20Surgical%20Technology%20Doc.pdf