Your Sore Neck Could Be Due to Texting

Neck hurting yet?

Study Hints Texting and Neck Pain Could Be Linked

Are you a serial texter? Do you prefer texting over calling, or have friends who are constantly texting you? I'm not much of one myself (clumsy fingers + impatience), and it sounds like I might be saving my body from some pain down the road.

According to a preliminary study run by Judith Gold, assistant professor of epidemiology at Temple University's College of Health Professions and Social Work, it's not the arms and fingers that seem to get the brunt of the damage. It's the neck that's getting beaten up by texting, much like someone who spends a good deal of her time on the computer.

"What we've seen so far is very similar to what we see with office workers who've spent most of their time at a computer," she said. "The way the body is positioned for texting - stationary shoulders and back with rapidly moving fingers - is similar to the position for typing on a computer."

Judith commented that the study is currently delving deeper into why and how upper body pain in the shoulders and neck seem to be connected to texting, so who knows? Maybe we'll find out it's even worse for us.

"Looking around our campus, you see every student on their cell phones, typing away," she says in a news release. "It's the age group that texts the most, so it's important to know what the health effects may be to learn whether it will cause long-term damage."

It's times like this when I feel like I need to take a good run around the block, move away from the computer, and chug a liter of water. How about you?