As I walked along the footpath at the Leschenault estuary today, I saw three hunched grey heads approaching. Side by side, heads bowed in prayer and walking at a steady pace. With eyes glued to their smartphones, they somehow managed to stick to the pathway and trusted that oncoming traffic would step aside.

“Oh, sorry, we’re on our phones!” said one at the last minute, giggling.

So, it’s not just the youth that are walking into lamp posts or colliding with others while busy on their smartphones.

As the trend for Head Down position grows, so are the cases of neck pain which are now being seen in much younger patients. There are high ergonomic risks to smartphone users, particularly young people, who are experiencing neck pain earlier than previous generations.

From research done by the University of South Australia in 2019, it seems that a large majority smartphone users are putting their necks at risk each time they send a text. “Text neck” places stress on the spine and changes the neck’s natural curve, increasing the likelihood of soft tissue discomfort.

As part of the experiment done by Unisa in 2019, researchers from Khon Kaen University video recorded 30 smartphone users in Thailand aged between 18-25 years, who spent up to eight hours a day on their phones. Using Rapid Upper Limb Assessment tool (RULA) to measure ergonomic risk levels, they found that the average score for the participants was six compared to an acceptable score of between one or two.

Dr Rose Bucoult, a UniSA physiotherapist involved in the research, said the awkward postures adopted by smartphone users adversely affects soft tissue.

Looking down and dropping your head forward changes the natural curvature of your neck-over time this misalignment can strain muscles and cause wear and tear on the structures of the neck.

Neck muscles in their proper position are designed to support the weight of your head, which is about 4.5kg. For every 3cm you drop your head forward, you double the load on those muscles. Looking down at your smartphone, with your chin to your chest can add about 27kg of force on your neck.

Physiotherapists suggest sitting with the lower back supported by a lumbar roll (or rolled up towel). This brings the ears over the shoulders which is correct alignment.

Also, when sitting (especially on the lounge suite), apart from having support in your lower back include two cushions on your lap this way the arms are supported and the neck to shoulder is aligned and you just tilt the eyes down to the phone not the entire neck. The phone essentially rests on the pillows or cushions.

And reading or looking at the phone while in bed is just as much of a problem. It’s much better to sit up against the headboard, knees bent with lower back supported and pillow under the knees and one on top of the lap for the phone/tablet. Sounds like a lot of work but regularly done it becomes a habit and will prevent neck pain, headaches and general pain down the arms and upper back.

Having reminders on smartphones about time use on them and also reminders about correct posture are additional measures to prevent strain.

I may yet have to blow a whistle at the bowed down footpath wanderers, though. They are becoming a pain in the neck!