Smartphone prevalence brings new health risk

Enjoying the age of social media, smartphones and texting comes at a price.

It’s called “text neck” and Valley chiropractor Rick Boatwright with Desert Rose Chiropractic said he’s seeing a lot of cases.

“In more than 90 percent of the patients I see, the curve has gone out of their neck from having their head down for so many hours,” he said.

And it goes beyond neck issues.

“Your hands can go to sleep at night, you can get headaches from it, even digestive problems,” he said.

Boatwright recommends taking frequent breaks from the smartphone and for users to roll their shoulders and neck a bit. Another trick that will help at home is putting a rolled up towel under the back of the neck and hanging headfirst off the bed for about five minutes.

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