There are a number of things we do each day without paying them a second thought. Some of these actions are innocuous or inconsequential, while others can have some surprising effects on our health. In today’s blog, we want to share three things you may be unknowingly doing throughout your day that could jeopardize the health of your neck.
1. Text Neck
Smartphones are becoming commonplace in today’s society, and we seem more attached to them than ever. Whether we’re leaning forward with our phones in our lap to send a text or respond to a work email, that posture is putting a lot of stress on our cervical spine. The main takeaway is that you need to be aware of your phone and neck positioning when you’re using a smartphone. Avoid having it in your lap or craning forward to view your phone. Have it out in front of you and keep your head positioned directly above your shoulders so that stress isn’t channeled directly onto your cervical vertebra.
2. Poor Sleeping Positions
Sometimes it can be hard to find a comfortable sleeping position, but if you want to protect your neck, you’ll avoid sleeping on your stomach. Of the three main sleeping positions, sleeping on your stomach puts the most stress on your cervical spine compared to sleeping on your back or on your side. If you’re dead set on sleeping on your stomach, use as small of a pillow as possible or no pillow, as this will help keep your neck from getting out of alignment. Strive to sleep on your side or back with a pillow that helps to keep your spine in a natural alignment.
3. Tobacco Use
The final daily activity that could be jeopardizing the health of your cervical spine is using tobacco products. Smoking and tobacco use can inhibit your neck health in a number of ways. Tobacco use breaks down healthy blood vessels and inhibits healthy blood flow to the spine. This decrease in oxygenated blood leads to a quicker natural degeneration of spinal discs, which can lead to bulging discs, herniated discs, nerve compression and a host of other spinal issues. Once this degeneration has occurred, there’s nothing you can do to regenerate what’s been lost, so prevention is much preferred to treatment, and the best way to prevent cervical spine degeneration is by giving up tobacco products. Reach out to Dr. Sinicropi’s office if you want help giving up the habit.
So how many of these daily activities are you guilty of doing? If you’ve said yes to any of the above issues, make some conscious choices throughout the day to help protect your cervical spine, otherwise we may end up seeing you in our office. We’d love to help you, but we hope we don’t have to! For more information, or to set up an appointment, reach out to our clinic today.
