"TXTing?! OMG...HA!!!"

The whole world texts, or should I say, "TXT" nowadays. It's quick, it's easy, and it's FUN. Just looking through a list of acronyms used to make shortened, but not necessarily SIMPLIFIED texts, I learned some new things! For instance, texting isn't limited to the OMG (oh my god), WTF (you know ;) ), JK (just kidding) or LOL... here's a short list of what I learned from www.netlingo.com:

GSYJDWURMNKH = "Good seeing you, Just don't wear your monkey hat"
ACORN = "A completely obsessive, really nutty person"
FYSBIGTBABN = "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night"

Now whether or not YOU'VE heard of these doesn't take away from the main message: "TXTing?! OMG...HA!!!" or as it translates to "texting? oh my god... headache!" That's because our phones, laptops, iPads, and everything else we use for messaging, are causing us problems: headaches, neck pain, tight muscles. Think about your body position/posture when you're texting. You've got that little phone cradled in both hands... the phone is down near your waist (because it would look uncool I'm sure to bring the phone up to your eye level) which causes you to continuously look downward at your phone. This begins to put strain on your upper back and neck muscles as they're now recruited to hold more weight (30 lbs of extra force to be exact) as your head tips off of center gravity. While looking down, your posture begins to diminish and your shoulders roll forward causing your front chest muscles to tighten, while increasing the curve of your midback. Eventually, the backwards 'C' curve of your neck (cervical curve) begins to decrease and can result in a number of conditions, eventually leading to possible degenerative changes such as arthritis.

This is all linked to another acronym, but not one that is commonly used in the messaging world. That is FHP, or Forward Head Posture. It causes headaches, neck pain, shoulder pain, and numbness and tingling in our arms. Without correction, again the problem worsens over time developing into a chronic condition, one of which may be known more commonly at some point in time as "Text Neck" for lack of a better term. If you think about your posture while on your brand new iPad or laptop, it's eerily similar to that of your phone. Besides not having to hold your laptop, we commonly slouch and our shoulder roll forward as we reach for every key-stroke. Rarely, is our laptop or iPad sitting at eye level, and that again forces a constant looking-down posture.

FHP can be corrected by chiropractic care, and the sooner action is taken, the better the prognosis. Simple adjustments can help to correct and increase the cervical curve, if not only to prevent further damage to it. Another important note, is think about your posture when you're messaging (head forward, shoulders rolled forward, etc), then do the exact opposite. Stretch your arms up and backwards, and look up. Not only will this help your posture, it will allow for better breathing, more oxygen flow, and more energy. Simple stretches, along with chiropractic adjustments, go a LONG way!

If we spent only a matter of minutes a day messaging, these symptoms and problems wouldn't be as big of a factor. However, we love to stay "connected" and to know whats going on with our friends, family, and as much as I hate to say, celebrity gossip! But when we're on our computers, we spend periods of time lasting up to hours... when we text, we get the response and text back, that endless cycle... today's accessibility and connectivity are our non-verbal killers.

SYS (see you soon)... and how about a emoticon to boot! ;)

-Dr. Matthew Lau
www.matthewlaudc.com

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