Recently I was at an airport, waiting for my plane to catch, took a break from reading a book, noticed everyone, and I mean with no exception everyone, was using a digital device of a kind! All looking down, immersed in whatever the magical screen had to offer.
I decided to make my next blog on that very subject: Is your cellphone giving you headaches and neck pain? In this video I explore the subject in detail and show you how to properly use your cellphone to minimize the amount of damage this otherwise non-threatening device has on your neck and full body.
As you are reading this blog, go ahead and slouch like you normally do. Continue reading until I ask you to do something else!! Bear with me and play the role, please.
An average head weighs about 12-15 lb, therefore the vertebra in the neck are designed to withstand about that much weight. In a normal situation, the hole in your ear, the middle of your shoulder and the side of your hip all need to be on a straight line (plumb line). The moment the head shifts forward and flexes, it puts approximately 60 lbs of pressure over the same structure when flexed down at the level most people look at their cellphone. In the video I mentioned, I show how to properly use the cell to put the least amount of stress on the neck but let’s not forget that the best scenario is no net-navigation on the cellphone.
Now DO NOT SIT UP STRAIGHT and take a deep breath in? Could you do it? Of course not, you are pressing on your diaphragm when slouching and trying to elevate it at the same time by attempting to take a deep breath in. The two simply don’t go together. This is what happens when you are slouching behind your computer every single day.
The machine we call our body works therefore ends up working on low oxygen but oxygen is needed for every single operation it is involved in. Since we are talking about headaches, neck pain and cellphone, I will only look at ONE thing that happens in this low oxygen state.
Muscles need oxygen to function properly. When there is a lack, the concentration of CO2 goes up (reverse correlation between oxygen and carbon dioxide). The PH of the environment changes and becomes more acidic, Lactic Acid is formed.
By the way, Lactic Acid is the so called knot that everyone refers to. Presence of Lactic Acid leads to muscle tension, when tension in the sub occipital or muscles in the back of the head cause those nasty, throbbing headaches that make many want to pull their hair out.
Why Headaches? Very simple: most headaches are Tension or suboccipital headaches meaning the muscles right below the line where head attaches to the neck get tense. That tension causes a series of events the end of which is headaches. If you have not subscribed to my youtube channel, I recommend you do so right here, then go to the playlist called Headaches to see what stretching exercises to do, what pressure points to press and what life styles to adjust and modify.
Let’s explore Headaches for a little bit here. Not every severe headache is Migraine and not every headache accompanied by light sensitivity is Migraine. The specific portion of the Brain that is overly stimulated by light is the culprit to those light sensitivity type of headaches so wearing the special kind of glasses called pinhole glasses which can be easily purchased online will calm down the over sensitivity thus end the headaches.
Remember, you are the Designer and the Director of your own life so design and direct it the way you wish to live it.
Hugs,
Dr. Shakib