Women may be at
greater risk of neck pain because of the way they use smartphones and tablets.
Electronic devices cause women to point down their face with
their chin almost on their chest, a study suggests.
Men, who tend to have longer necks because they are taller,
bend them less awkwardly when they are checking emails or texting on their
phone.
The findings, taken from X-rays of people using electronic
tablets, could help to explain why women suffer more from neck and jaw pain
than men.
Researchers found men tend to bend their neck where their
head meets their spine, while women look down towards their chest and stick
their head out further.
Dr Claire Terhune, senior author of the study from the
department of anthropology at the University of Arkansas, said: 'Our advice to
people in general would probably be to try to avoid spending hours looking down
at a tablet or a mobile phone.
'But the advice to women would be to be aware of their
posture and try to put themselves in a better position if they are using a
device.
'Following this research, we want to investigate if the way
that they bend their neck over electronic devices is linked to neck and jaw
pain.'
The British Chiropractic Association says more than one in
five people in Britain have suffered back or neck pain after using a
smartphone.
To see how electronic devices affect posture, the US
researchers X-rayed 10 women and 12 men while they used a tablet in five
different positions.
Men and women showed no difference in neck movements when
staring straight ahead at the centre of a tablet in their hand.
But the X-rays, which researchers marked with the six
vertebrae in the neck and another 46 stress points in the face and jaw, did
show a difference when people sat upright, bent fully forward or reclined at 15
or 30 degrees.
Women's tendency to look down with their chin almost on
their chest left their jaw sticking out, the study published in the journal
Clinical Anatomy found.
That could cause pain, especially for women using a device
while snacking or talking to people, which puts further strain on the jaw while
it is already in an uncomfortable position.
It is not clear whether women move their necks differently
as a general rule, or whether it is more to do with their height.
The females in the study were 15 centimetres (six inches)
shorter than the men on average, so had smaller necks, causing them to bend
awkwardly.
A study of taller women and shorter men might have found a
different result.
Marc Sanders, a member of the British Chiropractic
Association, said: 'There is limited research to determine whether gender or
height has an impact on how people view handheld devices. However, recent
studies have shown no link between neck pain and 'text neck' (forward head
posture) in adolescents..'
He added: 'While there is no perfect way to sit or use your
phone, if you are one of the 22 per cent of Brits who have experienced back or
neck pain after using a smartphone then you may want to relax your neck muscles
by leaning your head against your seat's headrest.
'Vary the position you are sitting in - your best posture is
your next posture. Make sure to take the time to break position on a regular
basis and stretch your arms, shrug your shoulders and move your fingers around
as this helps to keep the muscles more relaxed.'
(Daily Mail)
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