Staring down at your smartphone exposes you to many hazards: Open potholes/oncoming traffic, losing your real life friends, increased stress because you never stop working, etc, etc, etc. Now we can add to that list a newly discovered peril: the posture taken by hunched phone users can add the equivalent of 60 pounds worth of pressure on your neck. That’s like 120 Pharrell hats.
New research from Dr. Kenneth Hansraj at New York Spine Surgery shows that the further you crane over your Twitter feed, the greater the force gravity works on your neck. In order to really get the full 60 pounds of pressure, you have to basically rest your chin on your chest. That said, even 15 degrees of incline adds 27 pounds of pressure. Over time, "these stresses may lead to early wear, tear, degeneration, and possibly surgeries," the study claims. Poor posture has been tied to a number of medical issues, including constipation and heart disease, and it makes late night Tinder-trawling extra depressing.
iPhone users spend an average of 75 minutes a day on their phones. I would wager that readers of this article clock in more than that. Personally, instead of risking injury, I’m going to look into getting my head and neck surgically repositioned at a more suitable angle for my smartphone use.