What can beat the wonders mobile phones have brought to us?  This technology breakthrough has contributed a lot in this world.  The birth of mobile phones has been a major factor in the success of every industry concerning communication, making it easier faster and more efficient for consumers.

When we hear “mobile phone,” we always associate it with things like SMS/texting, calling, Internet connectivity, gaming, songs…you name it, the mobile phone has it (especially smartphones).  The mobile phone just seems like the complete package. Right?

The above were just the positive notes of this magical device we call a mobile phone.  But as we all know, nothing is perfect.  The mobile phone also has its dark side.  Aside from the technical glitches that users experience, mobile phones have also affected users in terms of their health.

Look in almost any direction and you’re likely to see people looking down.  What are they doing?  They’re busy with their “mobile life,” and in this day and age, it looks pretty normal.  Well, maybe it shouldn’t be.

It all started with chronic texting, leading users to complain of pain in their thumbs.  Adding to that health issue is neck pain, or in medical terms, text neck.   These pain points we experience are due to awkward positions when using our mobile devices, and the sad part is that these could become chronic issues if not treated in time.

With 110 billion text messages sent in Dec 2008 alone, we can just imagine how this has contributed to the increasing number of “mobile device pains,” especially with the quickening pace of new device releases such as the tablets, notebooks, mobile gaming devices, and others.  Studies show that more complaints, particularly in the shoulder and neck, occur when gadgets are used for more than three hours in a single day.

“Keeping the neck and head stretched forwards for long periods could eventually cause the natural curvature of the neck to reverse, potentially leading to serious health problems,” says Rachael Lancaster, of Freedom Back Clinics in Leeds.

So, how do we deal with this?  There’s some  stress reducing strategies to help you address “text neck.”  Here are some tips shared by chiropractors to prevent users from suffering text neck :

• Changing Position every 15 minutes
• Keeping Head Up Shoulders Back

Text neck has been a global epidemic, according to Dean Fisherman, a chiropractor who practices at the Next Institute in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, wherein his youngest patient is a 3-year old child who loves playing games on an electric device.

“It’s starting younger and younger. There are more than six billion phones connected, and that’s not counting the Kindles, iPads, tablets and all these devices we rely on daily,” Fishman says.

“Go outside, to a restaurant, the supermarket, a gym, the airport and notice the posture of almost everyone around you. You will see this everywhere, and now multiply that by every city in the world.”