Injuries relating to phones, computers, tablets significantly increasing in youth

Becky Thomas shakes her head when she looks out into her waiting room and sees patients with neck issues bent uncomfortably over their phones.

"You spend 45 minutes showing them the way they should do things and then they walk into the waiting room, sit down and look down at their phone."

The registered physiotherapist says the majority of her patients have neck, shoulder and back injuries stemming from spending too much time hunched over a computer, tablet or smartphone. Many of her clients are in their 50s and 60s and experienced pain for years without seeking help.

"A lot of people say 'Oh, I just sit at a computer all day so I should be sore,' but they don't need to be — this can be corrected," says Thomas, who owns Hammonds Plains Physiotherapy. "By changing little things here and there, it can make quite a big difference."

But it's not just burnt-out baby boomers complaining of tech-related pain. Over the past two years, Thomas says the volume of teenaged patients has "blown up."

"We've seen such a significant rise in young patients, purely due to poor posture from texting and looking down constantly at their phones," says Thomas. "We're seeing issues that people used to develop after 20 years of sitting at a desk, but now they're happening to kids."

Thomas says using technology for long periods of time is another critical issue, even if it's just casual use of a laptop, tablet or smartphone at home while you're watching TV. She says it's a good idea to stand up every 20 minutes — even setting a timer, if necessary — to give your back, shoulders and hands a break.

"You're sitting in the same position, looking down at everything, and that leads to a lot of neck-related injuries," says Thomas. "We call it 'text neck.' "

Thomas believes these bad habits can be broken by educating people about what's causing injuries and showing them safer ways to type and text. So what's the right way to hold your phone or tablet? Straight ahead of your face so you're not craning your neck down to look at it — propping your arms up with a pillow can make you more comfortable.

Many of her patients come in complaining of neck, shoulder or back pain without even realizing it's been caused by their technology use. When she asks questions about their working positions and desk setup, her suspicions are confirmed: they're about as non-ergonomic as it gets.

Every day in her clinic, she demonstrates how to sit properly at a desk, position a computer monitor and adjust a desk chair to put minimal strain on a person's eyes, back, neck, shoulders and wrists. It's the "slumpers and slouchers" that Thomas says are at risk for tendonitis.

"You want to be as close to the desk as you can be, with your arms by your side at a 90-degree angle — which should place your hands directly over the keyboard," says Thomas.

"When you need the mouse, your hand should just go back and forth like you're scrubbing a table. You shouldn't be straining to reach it."

She recommends placing your computer monitor so the top lines up with your forehead. If you have a laptop, you may want to invest in a monitor and keyboard because the screens themselves are too low on their own. If your shoulders and back ache from hunching over a sewing machine — something that isn't as easily adjusted — she suggests bending forward at the hips and keeping your back straight.

Typing itself is another huge issue. Ninety per cent of Nova Scotians will receive a consultation for carpal tunnel surgery within 290 days, and then receive the surgery within another 230 days. But surgery isn't the only solution.

Louise Rodriguez is a registered massage therapist and the owner of Flex Massage Therapy in Truro. For people who suffer from the numbness and tingling of carpal tunnel syndrome, she uses a cupping technique to loosen stuck tissue and alleviate the discomfort.

If your hands and wrists ache after a long day of typing, Rodriguez suggests plunging them into a sink of icy-cold water for 30 seconds and then transferring them to warm water for 90 seconds — or 10 seconds of cold and 30 seconds of warm.

"The cold kind of closes off your circulation for a little bit and the warmth opens it up to bring in lots of fresh blood. It's a flushing process and it reduces inflammation," says Rodriguez.

Rodriguez says tech users need to work on opening up their chest muscles through regular stretching. She's a big believer in doing yoga to stretch and strengthen.

If you're embarrassed to do a bunch of stretching in the office, she suggests doing simple wrist circles while you're on the phone or just standing up and stretching your arms back slightly as you talk.

"I often see office workers with tight glutes, so I tell them to take one leg and cross it over their bent knee," says Rodriguez. "When you bend forward, you feel a great stretch in your glutes."

While many of her clients are professionals in their 30s, 40s and 50s, Rodriguez also has clients younger than 12 who see her for postural problems. "The 42-lb. head" is an industry term she uses to refer to how a head's weight on the spine can increase by 10 lbs. for every inch it's migrated forward.

Posture problems weaken your muscles and make it more difficult to stand up straight. Rodriguez works with these patients to stretch the tight neck and back muscles that have adaptively shortened. While it isn't something that can be fixed overnight, she says the easiest way to fix a tech-related injury is identifying and correcting your posture.

But the problem isn't just the hours spent using smartphones, computers, tablets and gaming systems -- Rodriguez says it's also that today's kids are playing less so they aren't developing the strength in their arms and back to compensate for their hunching.

"Technology is making us more connected than ever, which is great, but our bodies were meant to move," says Rodriguez. "You won't suffer much if you hunch when you're young, but as you get older you'll start paying for it with less mobility, less mobility and less muscle health."

"If you don't use it, you'll lose it."

Source: Injuries relating to phones, computers, tablets significantly increasing in youth