Text Neck Syndrome

It’s interesting what you stumble upon while doing research on pain in children and adolescents. I’ve said it many times before, but i’ll say it again so I get my point across, children and adolescents respond very different to load. This is why we can’t give kids the same resistance exercises that we would an adult at a gym. So when considering neck pain in kids here’s a few interesting facts:

1. our cervical spine (neck) does not reach skeletal maturity in terms of shape or bone density until the age of 8+

2. the fulcrum from which a child’s neck moves is at C1-2, in an adult it is at the lower aspects of the cervical spine

3. the ligaments of the neck in a child are far more flexible than an adults and hence more unstable

4. headaches are not common in children nor is stiffness or pain

So back to my title, Text Neck Syndrome, the name speaks for itself and is a syndrome that we are seeing more and more in children along with Android Thumb. Why? there are plenty of opinions out there, but for the purposes of today’s post I’ll be following on with my interest in statistics surrounding increased engagement with smartphones. In 2023, there was an estimated total number of global smartphone users to reach 6.8 billion. So that is an estimated 8 in 10 people (adjusting for predicted increases in population) who will be equipped with a smartphone (85%). In 2020, about half (46%) of Australian children aged 6 - 13 used a mobile phone on a daily basis, which was an increase from 41% in 2015. (Australian Communications and Media Authority) Of these statistics one in three kids between the ages of 6-13 yrs of age owned a mobile phone. What do kids spend their time doing on phones? the stats support time spent taking photos/videos, playing games and using apps.

What’s important here is time spent engaging in these activities and the position of the neck (forward flexed head posture) while using a small screen. Now remember what I said before, in children ligament laxity in the neck is higher than an adults and the fulcrum for movement is at the upper cervical junction. Looking at a small screen puts excessive strain on the upper cervical segments which in kids is already unstable.

Test Neck Syndrome is presenting in our clinic as similar to overuse conditions, or repetitive strain injuries from forward flexed posturing. Something I’m asking regularly now is how much screen time, particularly on a phone, does your child engage in? Not sure, you can see what your childs’ screen time is on your phone or their phone.

Signs and symptoms of Text Neck Syndrome include:

• neck pain with or without radiating pain from the neck to the arm and shoulder

• neck stiffness

• headaches

• poor posturing at the neck, shoulders and spine

• muscle fatigue and weakness

• Temporomandibular Joint Disorders (TMJ) - jaw pain and clicking/locking

So what’s the solution? technology is not going away, in fact you will find that some children are spending upwards of 7-8 hrs per day either on laptops for homework, at school, on tablets and their phones for recreation or other reasons. It has become a big part of our lives, so how can we manage this? the truth is I don’t know, given that even in schools access to laptops is part of the curriculum, how can we possibly limit screen time?

We know that even if you went to the gym everyday for an hour or so, the time spent seated at a workstation is not undone by the exercise you do no matter how vigorous. We know this from the numerous studies which have looked at the correlation between metabolic syndrome and early mortality. Scary…. (I have plenty of resources for you to look at when it comes to metabolic syndrome and the effects of sitting so let me know if you’re keen - perhaps next weeks post will cover this topic).

I have no answers for this post today I’m afraid, rather I am highlighting a problem for all of us to consider, and perhaps even at the very least to think about how much screen time your children are engage in. Awareness of and conversations surrounding this topic is the first step to change.

We’ll see you in the clinic

Sam and Andy