Does looking up your head to play with your phone really help prevent cervical spondylosis? Experts urgently remind

Many young people frequently experience cervical spine problems, such as looking down at their phones or sitting still for long periods of time.

So how to prevent cervical spondylosis?

In recent years, there have been endless "little tricks" appearing online, attracting netizens to follow suit. Recently, someone claimed that tilting your head back to play with your phone can prevent cervical spondylosis, which has attracted the attention of netizens! Orthopedic experts from Wuhan Union Hospital reminded that it is good for "head-down tribe" to tilt their heads back occasionally, but tilting back for a long time may aggravate the damage to the cervical spine and cannot prevent cervical spondylosis. The topic of "tilting your head back to play with your phone can prevent cervical spondylosis" has become a hot search, attracting the attention of netizens. After comparison on the Internet, it was found that most people who tilt their heads back to play with their phones do not suffer from cervical spondylosis. The reason is that the action of tilting your head back can stretch and stretch the joints between the cervical vertebrae, which can reduce the burden on the cervical spine and help prevent cervical spondylosis. In this regard, netizens' discussions have also "exploded."

"No wonder I have shoulder and neck pain every day. It turns out that my posture when browsing my phone is wrong."

The "opposite" move just offsets the pressure on the cervical spine when lowering your head.

Some people are worried that their cervical spine cannot bear the long-term backward bending. Netizen "KK" is a short video blogger. Because of work, she has to use her mobile phone from morning to night. Sometimes when she is busy, she has to use her mobile phone for several hours in a row. Her shoulders and neck are stiff, she feels dizzy and uncomfortable, and sometimes she feels nauseous and wants to vomit. After she accidentally saw the topic of "leaning back to browse the phone", she was tempted to try it. At night, she leaned back on the sofa at home, tilted her head back, and raised her mobile phone above her head to look up. After a week, her cervical spine discomfort problem did not ease, but the muscles on both sides of the front of her neck became sore.

Experts suggest not to follow suit, it has no preventive effect

Can tilting your head to play with your phone really reduce the burden on your cervical spine and prevent cervical spondylosis? Zhang Bo, deputy chief physician of the Department of Orthopedics at Wuhan Union Hospital, said that tilting your head to play with your phone can temporarily relieve fatigue and discomfort in the cervical spine, but the time should not be too long, otherwise it will aggravate the damage to the cervical spine.

The human cervical spine is very easy to be injured because it has the largest range of motion and bears a lot of pressure, making it more prone to strain. This is especially true for those who spend a long time looking down at their phones or working at a desk, which puts the cervical spine under high-intensity loads for a long time. It is easy for the physiological curvature of the cervical spine to become stiff or even "reversely arched", accelerating cervical degenerative changes. The European Spine Association has issued a warning

When you lower your head 30 degrees to browse your phone, your cervical spine will bear about 18 kilograms of pressure;

When you lower your head 45 degrees, the pressure value increases to about 22 kg.

It can be said that when we look down at our phones, the pressure on our cervical spine is equivalent to hanging two large watermelons on our necks. In response to this online statement, Zhang Bo said that it is actually a "scientific" cloak that takes people to another extreme. "Don't lean back for a long time as a regular choice, which will not prevent cervical spondylosis."

What are the symptoms of cervical spondylosis?

1. Neck pain and stiffness are often the first symptoms. After waking up from a nap, you will find that your neck is in severe pain and you cannot turn your head to one side. When you have to turn your head, your body will follow your head. After working at a desk for a long time, you will find that your shoulders and neck are heavy and stiff when you want to look up, and you may even feel dizzy and have a headache.

2. Radiating pain or numbness in the upper limbs. After neck pain and stiffness, these people often experience electric-like numbness in the arms or fingers. The arm feels different from the abnormal soreness after fitness. In severe cases, one upper limb will feel heavy, the grip strength will decrease, and sometimes the object held will fall.

If you experience the above-mentioned discomfort symptoms, it means that you may have cervical spondylosis.

How to prevent cervical spondylosis?

1. Avoid doing things that require you to bend down for a long time, such as playing with your phone, looking at the computer, knitting, playing mahjong, etc.;

2. Do not stay in bed to read books, newspapers or watch TV, and master the correct writing posture;

3. For those who work on computers for a long time, it is recommended to raise the computer monitor, lower the chair, and try to look straight at the screen or slightly look up at it;

4. People who work at desks should avoid sitting for long periods of time and stand up regularly to do cervical spine stretching exercises;

5. Choose a suitable pillow;

6. For those who are used to sleeping on their backs, the height of the pillow should be equal to the height of our fist. On the contrary, for those who are used to sleeping on their sides, the height of the pillow can be approximately equal to the width of one shoulder.

7. In addition, people who work at a desk for a long time should have a 5-10 minute break every hour and take time to do the "M" exercise, which involves flexing, extending and rotating the head and upper limbs to relieve pressure on the cervical spine.