Backache and smartphones

In recent years, the smartphones they have become protagonists of our lives and routines. We barely separate ourselves from them and use them practically for everything. Whether to watch WhatsApp conversations, to choose the best song to go for a walk or even to work.

The result is that, Throughout the day, we spend a lot of time looking at the screen of our phone. However, have you ever considered the problems this can cause your body?

There are few people who suffer from back pain, headache or even vision problems from smartphones. Unfortunately, back pain is precisely one of the most frequent chronic health problems in Spain.

Currently, although most people don't know it, the continuous use of smartphones It is one of the main causes of this back pain. In this article we explain why it happens and how to avoid it.

Because the smartphones do they cause back pain?

Yes, there are many people who experience back pain due to the use of smartphones. Specifically, it's usually cervical back pain, which is the part of the most superior spine. That is, from the base of the skull to the chest, more or less.

Why does it happen specifically in this area? It's very simple. If you look, you will see that we rarely place the mobile at the level of our eyes, raising our arms. Unlike, we always tend to tilt our head and neck down so we can see the screen well.

This posture, which we also normally maintain for a long time, is harmful to our back. It is estimated that, on average, we perform this movement about 150 times a day.

According to a study, every time we bow our heads like this, it's as if we load our cervicals with about 27 kilograms of weight. In addition, maintaining this posture for a long time makes the overload even greater in our cervical vertebrae.

The main problem is that back pain is usually very disabling. In fact, almost 12% of casualties are due to some type of problem in this area. It is important to be aware that such a bad habit can take its toll throughout our lives.

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What can we do to avoid problems to use smartphones?

Actually, back pain is multifactorial and it doesn't depend just on using smartphones, although it is true that it is one of the most relevant aspects. However, we must also bear in mind that the incidence of this discomfort has been increasing due to other factors.

The abuse of computers and television is a problem that, undoubtedly, is part of the same technological advance that smartphones. Y all of them are related to postural pathologies and back problems.

Therefore, first, the ideal is try to reduce the hours we spend throughout the day using these devices. Currently, many of the applications we use most tell us what is our daily use of them, such as Instagram.

We must try to reduce this consumption and, at the same time, avoid making that almost automatic gesture of looking at our smartphone continuously. Another interesting measure is to look at the position we adopt.

It is recommended that, instead of bowing your head every time you want to look at something, raise your arms and place the mobile where you can see it well. Keeping your neck up will reduce the overload to which the cervicals are usually subjected.

Further, exercising the shoulder and back area in general can help you strengthen it. Thus, it is quite likely that part of the discomfort will decrease and the problem will improve.

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In conclusion

The smartphones they are related to back pain, since they make us adopt postures that overload the cervical part, especially. It is important to be aware of this problem and try to reduce the time we spend with our phones.