asking for a friend: am i getting a hunchback?

  no question, our digital devices have advantages, but what happens when you rarely put your phone down — besides eye strain and wrist pain ? well, your posture pays a price. we’re talking about that curve in your neck that happens as you’re leaning forward to look down at your screen which causes your shoulders to hunch over, the combination of which puts pressure — and not the good kind — on your spine.

if you feel a bump developing at the base of your neck, you could be on your way to developing what’s called a “buffalo hump” or “dowager’s hump”. medically referred to as kyphosis, the hump is an increased curve in the upper neck commonly caused by poor posture like slouching or hunching over, according to the mayo clinic . other symptoms include back or neck pain, a feeling of your head being too heavy, fatigued muscles in the back or neck and tension headaches.

your head weighs 7 kilograms

a well-cited study in surgical technology international revealed that when we crane our neck forward 45 degrees on average for texting, this places a weight of 22kg on the spine, which is roughly five times the pressure considered normal. most phone users typically spend two to four hours a day hunched over their screen, which adds up to 700 to 1,400 hours of extra pressure on the spine per year which can take a toll. in fact, there’s a name for it: “text neck syndrome.” it includes a cluster of symptoms that include back, neck and headache pain that pediatric researchers at the university of chieti in italy have looked at in children and adolescents . in developing young bodies, text neck could lead to chronic neck and back pain, along with eye problems, anxiety, irritability, poor communication and lower school marks.

dr. ayla azad, a thornhill chiropractor and chief experience officer with the canadian chiropractic association (cca), has seen her share of neck and back troubles throughout her 25 years in clinical practice.

the kitchen table that is now a desk

more of us working from home has also been a factor, she says, with people piecing together work stations sitting at the kitchen table or even sitting on their beds, which aren’t creating ideal environments for posture and body mechanics that are best at the keyboard. check out cca’s tips for an ergonomic work setup .

“stand up, squeeze your shoulder blades together, stretch your arms out, circle your shoulders,” she says, adding cca has a free app, straightenupcanada , that offers a three-minute program to improve posture and spinal health.