Chiropractors are warning that sedentary lifestyles and poor posture due to frequent use of mobiles and other handheld devices is causing a huge rise in back and neck problems amongst young people.

The British Chiropractic Association (BCA) said that 45% of 16-24 year olds reported living with back and neck pain compared to 28% of 18-24 year olds surveyed last year.

Tim Hutchful, BCA Chiropractor, said “When people use their laptops or mobile phones in bed they tend to forget their posture, hunch over the screen and leave their spine unsupported, which can damage posture, cause back or neck pain”.

His colleague, Rishi Loatey noted that “The only sort of neck pain we used to see with that age group was people who had been in car accidents but now the vast majority of neck pains are people from secondary school upwards”.

He added that patients including IT consultants can spend 8-10 hours working at computers, look at their phones during their commute and then spend the evening social surfing.

The BCA found that during the average day Britons spend about 2 hours sitting and looking at mobile technology, nearly 4 hours using a laptop or desk top computer and almost 3 hours watching films or TV.

Our modern sedentary lifestyle is contributing to these problems.  Mr Hutchful said “Sitting causes up to twice as much pressure on discs on the spine as standing so as a nation we are vulnerable”.

Useful tips

The BCA recommends this simple advice to reduce the risk of developing back and neck pain:

  1. Make sure your bottom is against the back of your seat
  2. Shoulder blades should be touching the back of the chair
  3. When using screens your eyebrows should be level with the top and chairs tilted slightly forward
  4. When driving you should set the seat slightly backwards
  5. Getting up or changing position every 20 minutes to move and stretch is helpful

 

Mr Hutchful added “Your back is always hard at work, even when you think you are relaxing, so ensuring your move and stretch regularly will help to keep your back on track”.

Luck’s Yard Clinic has produced an App and DVD called ChiroMoves with the aim of encouraging people to move and stretch throughout the day to help prevent these kinds of problems from occurring.

It is available through Amazon or iTunes:

To Purchase ChiroMoves on Amazon.co.uk Click Here

See our sample video below or visit iTunes to Purchase ChiroMoves