Smart phone use can cause WHAT?

From the desk of Christopher B. Renne, DC

March 14, 2017

Hello again friends.

Dr. Chris here.  Hopefully you are having a great day and a great week, and enjoying all the 2017 had to offer.  I known I am!

Today, I wanted to revisit an old topic, a personal favorite of mine.  As you all know, the world has been taken over by smart phone use.  I wanted to re-share some information that you may find helpful regarding your cell phone and what frequent use can do to your posture and physical well being.

Good posture is a paramount importance to a healthy spine.  In my office, we always encourage patients to spend their work day in front of computer to concentrate on improving their posture.  Being hunched in front of a screen 8 hours a day most certainly can contribute to a spine and neck pain even in someone who is otherwise active and healthy.

These days it is not just office workers who are craning their neck stare at a tiny screen:  If anyone with a cell phone, a tablet, and a data plan.  That is certainly bad news for our spines, according to a research performed by Dr. Kenneth Hansraj, Chief of Spine Surgery at New York Spine Surgery & Rehabilitation Medicine.  In this CBC news article the study reported some alarming results:  “People spend an average of 2 to 4 hours each day with their neck bent at this a natural angle plus shooting of emails or texts.  That is 700 to 1,400 hours a year”.  

Let me restate that, that is up to 1,400 hours a year staring at tiny screen! and the study found that being slumped over your smart phone greatly increases the amount of weight your neck and back have to support:

“Dr. Hansraj’s study found that bending your neck at a 60 degree angle to get a better look at your self use putting 60 pounds worth of pressure on your cervical spine, the portion of the spine above your shoulders.  That is more than the weight of your average 7-year-old.”

But even if you are hunched over at a 60 degree angle you can still be putting a lot of stress on your spine:

“Tilting your head even at 15 degrees puts 27 pounds of pressure on your spine; a 30 degree neck tilt equals 40 pounds of pressure; a 45 degree tilt adds to force of 49 pounds.”

Poor posture does not just look bad, it can cause lots of problems:  But it is not just a big slump that could eventually cause you to look like lurch:  “Loss of the natural curve of the cervical spine leads to incrementally increase stresses about the cervical spine.  These stresses may lead to early ware, tear, and degeneration (arthritis of the spine), and possibly surgical intervention.”

As any good chiropractor knows, bad posture has been linked to host medical problems, including headaches and other neurological problems, depression, constipation, and heart disease.  At a minimum, constant slouching is likely to cause a lot of chronic pain.

What can you do ?

Well, you can try to spend less time staring at your iPhone.  May be its time to pickup the phone and call that friend instead of sending another text.  When you do need to use your phone to text or email, try to maintain a neutral position:  Back straight, shoulders in line with your ears, and your shoulder blades pulled back.

There are lots of downsides of poor posture, there are lots of upsides to good posture:  Other studies have found good posture elevates testosterone and serotonin in the body and also reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol.  Good posture has even been linked to personality traits such as tolerance for risk taking.

This is an excellent reminder that it is important to be mindful of our posture no matter what we are doing.  Sitting straight up in the office all day wound to us any good if we are spending a couple hours slouched over sending texts as soon as we go home.

Next time you pull out your smart phone, pay attention how you hold yourself while you are using it.  Try and get in a habit of keeping your spine in a neutral position while texting or emailing.  Who knows, you might find that you start feeling better and feeling better about yourself if you do so.

I hope you found the above information useful and modestly entertaining.  As always, I am grateful you have taken the time to read this information and I hope that you will share with those that you love.

Be well !

Christopher B. Renne, D.C.

Chiropractic Physician

www.activechirocenter.com

Board Certified Integrative Medicine

Florida #CH7715

NOTE:  Dr. Christopher Renne is a Jacksonville, Florida based Chiropractic Physician.  He has been in active practice since 1998 and specializes in the treatment of spinal related pain.  He has been a Jacksonville resident since 2000.

THEY SAID WHAT?!?

The American College of Physicians recommends Chiropractic Medicine, not pills, for lower back pain

Hello friends, I’m back with another post about chronic low back pain. Another?? Absolutely! 

Chronic lower back pain is a problem that affects a lot of people - one in four Americans reports experiencing at least one day of lower back pain within just the last three months of their lives.

I’ve written in the past on this blog about how many folks who struggle with chronic back pain often turn to dangerous prescription painkillers to help. As a doctor who sees multiple patients with chronic back pain come through every day, it’s my experience that things like painkillers seldom do anything to alleviate the patient's’ suffering - in fact, they can make it worse! But as Americans, we’ve been trained to expect that there is a pill to fix everything that is wrong with our bodies.

But medical science is slowly catching onto the fact that this just isn’t true. Last month, the American College of Physicians released new guidelines for treating chronic lower back pain. They based their recommendations on extensive clinical trials. And what did those clinical trials tell them? Let’s see.

Taking a bunch of Tylenol for your pain? Not helpful! Tylenol, or acetaminophen as it’s known to doctors, doesn’t do any better than a sugar pill placebo for treating lower back pain. Also, taking a lot of Tylenol could be a bad idea since excessive doses can damage your liver. Opioid-based painkillers (like Oxycontin)? Really bad idea! Opioids are addictive and easy to overdose on, even when they are prescribed by your doctor. Worse, these painkillers have helped lead to the heroin epidemic that is sweeping America*!

So, if drugs are out, what did the ACP recommend to treat chronic lower back pain?

The American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends … that physicians and patients should treat acute or subacute low back pain with non-drug therapies such as superficial heat, massage, acupuncture, or spinal manipulation.

“Spinal manipulation” just means good old Chiropractic medicine, by the way. But hey, this is only the short list. What else did the ACP recommend for lower back pain?

…[E]xercise, multidisciplinary rehabilitation, acupuncture, mindfulness-based stress reduction, tai chi, yoga, motor control exercise (MCE), progressive relaxation, electromyography biofeedback, low-level laser therapy, operant therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, or spinal manipulation.

I’ve seen patients have great results with everything the ACP recommends here. At Active Medical & Chiropractic we offer as many of the above treatments as we can fit under our roof! (Sadly, we don’t have a spot to fit an acupuncturist yet.)

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I’m a big booster for the healing power of exercise. ‘Exercise’ doesn’t have to mean doing jumping jacks or running a marathon! Tai chi and yoga are great forms of exercise, and hey, look - they’re on the ACP’s list!

Friends, the ACP acknowledges that right now, modern medicine just doesn’t have an instant ‘cure’ for chronic low back pain. Who knows? Maybe one day there will be a pill that just makes it all go away. My bet would be, though, that we will instead get better at using techniques like yoga, acupuncture, and chiropractic medicine to unlock the body’s natural healing properties.

If you are experiencing lower back pain and are interested in trying non-invasive, non-drug therapies like those that the ACP recommends in its new guidelines, come on into the office! We offer many of those therapies right now - and if we don’t, we know the people who do! We want to make sure you get the help and healing you need, whatever form that may take.

Yours in health,

Dr. Christopher B. Renne

Chiropractic Physician

Florida CH#7715

Active Medical & Chiropractic

4111 Atlantic Boulevard

Jacksonville, Fl 32207

www.activechirocenter.com

* For a real eye-opener about the epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse, check out the LA Times’ article ‘You want a description of hell?’ Oxycontin’s 12-hour problem.