Smart phones, laptops and
SeReaders are supposed to make life easy and fun, but they are becoming a pain
in the neck , literally.Physiotherapists in the city are facing a new set of
chronic ailments caused exclusively by touchphones and tablets. The `iPosture'
is responsible for alarming pain in the hands, neck and back. The term is used
for the stooped body shape adopted by those texting, playing games or
binge-viewing TV shows on tablet or smart phone. The worst part, say doctors,
is increasing trend of kids and teens needing physiotherapy due to their
addiction.
GOOD POSTURE
» Avoid sitting or sleeping for
long in front of a television or while using gadgets » Take a break every 30
minutes. Stand walk around for a few minutes » Avoid holding phone between ear
and shoulder as it will injure your neck » Maintain level of computer screen in
front of you, support arms on chair han dles and use proper lighting » For
kids, limit use of gadgets to avoid spinal injuries. Ensure proper posture »
Tap lightly on touch keyboard. Many people tend to tap hard as it lacks tac
tile feedback of a physical keyboard » Buy bluetooth keyboard if typing longer
than a few sentences
Neurological Effect
Niraj Shah, a 12-year old, played
all kinds of sports: football, cricket, basketball and shooting. He always won,
and his peers used to idolise his dedication. The only problem was that all
this happened in his virtual world trapped in a 7-inch tablet. He would spend
hours playing video games on his tablet.He didn't have any friends or social
life. As time passed, his parents began noticing disturbing changes. He became
aggressive, short-tempered and his grades began slipping. He kept complaining
of terrible headache and bodyache.
When his parents took him to a
doctor, he was diagnosed with epilepsy as well as somatic symptom disorder -a
mental disorder characterised by physical symptoms.
“Diagnosis revealed that excessive
gaming had caused a neurological problem,“ said Dr Ankit Shah at SAL hospital.
Excessive gaming has cognitive,
behavioural, and neurological impact on people. “Gaming needs extreme
concentration and hyperactivates the brain cell leading to pain in neck, back
and other muscles,“ he added.
Niraj is taking behavioural
treatment and physiotherapy. He has been banned from playing games on his
smartphone and tablet.
Whatsappitis
Nishita Parekh, a student of Delhi
Public School, was giving her exam when suddenly she felt a shooting pain in
her thumb. She could not hold her pen long enough to finish her examinations.
Once a bright student with excellent grades, her performance began to slide.
Dr K M Annamalai, a senior
physiotherapist, diagnosed her with De Quervain syndrome, painful inflammation
of tendons in the thumb that extend to the wrist.
“She would spend 3-4 hours every
day texting and browsing the internet. Due to this excessive use, her thumb
tenosynovitis got affected,“ said Dr Annamalai.
A report in The Lancet medical
journal said `WhatsAppitis' is a credible disease, after a doctor in Spain
diagnosed a 34-year-old female patient with bilateral wrist pain induced by
excessive use of 'WhatsApp'. “Touch phones are more dangerous than Qwerty
phones. In Qwerty, fingertips get resting space.In touch phones, the the screen
is extremely sensitive and fingers have to move fast without rest.
“Nishita had reached the chronic
stage of De Quervain syndrome where pain and inflammation had travelled to the
elbow and other hand muscles. She also began having con stant headaches,“ he
said. The treatment usually consists of non-ste roidal anti-inflam matory
drugs, application of ice packs and complete absti nence from using the phone
to send messag es. Dr Annamalai said, “Previously, such cases were limited only
to housewives, now I am seeing more and more cases among teenagers.“
Sleeping Stiff
Sushil Patel, a class 11 student
studying in a private school, was no gadget freak. His one vice was books and
he was hooked to his e-book reader. He spent all his spare time reading e-books
on his Kindle which was a birthday gift from his parents. Every night, he would
read his Kindle for two hours before falling asleep. He would either rest his
head on a pile of pillows or place a huge cushion on his lap to rest his elbows
on it to hold up the eReader. Both positions put extreme pressure on his neck
and spine, resulting in a neck spasm.Sushil was unable to move his neck.
Dr Harshit Desai, physiotherapist
at HCG multispecialty hospital, said, “Teenagers tend to fall sleep reading
onwatching their gadgets. They fall asleep in a semi-sleeping position and risk
spinal deformation.“
Children need to take special care
of their body posture as their bones are still developing. Such incidents can
cause permanent damage.
“In some case the effect is so
adverse that physiotherapy does not help.Teenagers should be careful about
their posture and the time they spend on gadgets,“ he added.
Text Neck
Nishita Mehta, a 15-year-old
student from St Kabir School, could not live without her smart phone. Like many
other parents, her parents too gave her a smart phone at an early age. As she
got involved with various social media platforms, she became a texting addict.
Till one day, she was struck by severe headache accompanied by ear and neck
pain. But soon, she started complaining of headache, ear and neck pain.
“Doctors could not figure out the cause of her pain. However, once we got to
know her life habits, we realized that her smart phone was causing the pain,“
said Dr Ankit Shah, a city-based physiotherapist “While texting, Nishita would
bend forward, her eyes glued to her phone.After a while, this puts immense
pressure on the neck and spine.“
Medical experts say the surge of
smart phones over the past 5 years has caused 100 per cent surge in the number
of patients with chronic pain in neck and back muscles.
“Ten years ago I would read of
foreigners having these ailments. Now, it is a reality in Ahmedabad too. Every
month, I receive 30-35 teenagers complaining of body pain due to over use of
gadgets,“ said Dr Shah. *Name of patients changed to protect identities
