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Neck and Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Symptoms Secondary to Maladaptive Postures Caused by Cell Phones and Backpacks in School-Aged Children and Adolescents

Technology is an essential part of our lives. Nowadays, it is almost impossible to leave the house without a cell phone. Despite the wide range of benefits of cell phones and handheld electronic devices, this evolution of technology has not come without a price. The pandemic of cell phone use among...

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Autores principales: Warda, Danny G., Nwakibu, Uzoma, Nourbakhsh, Ali
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10048647/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36981476
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060819
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author Warda, Danny G.
Nwakibu, Uzoma
Nourbakhsh, Ali
author_facet Warda, Danny G.
Nwakibu, Uzoma
Nourbakhsh, Ali
author_sort Warda, Danny G.
collection PubMed
description Technology is an essential part of our lives. Nowadays, it is almost impossible to leave the house without a cell phone. Despite the wide range of benefits of cell phones and handheld electronic devices, this evolution of technology has not come without a price. The pandemic of cell phone use among children and young adolescents has led to the emergence of a set of musculoskeletal (MSK) symptoms that have not been seen before in this age group. These symptoms can range from neck and shoulder discomfort to pain, peripheral neurological symptoms of the upper extremity, and long-term complications such as disk prolapse and degenerative disk disease of the cervical spine. This clinical presentation is known as “text neck syndrome.” In addition to MSK symptoms, text neck syndrome could also include eye and ear symptoms, psychological problems, peripheral neurological symptoms, and poor academic performance. Multiple mechanisms have been discussed by which cell phone use causes MSK symptoms. Maladaptive postures, a decrease in physical activity leading to obesity, and the direct effect of electromagnetic radiation are some of the mechanisms by which long-term use of cell phones leads to the clinical presentation of text neck syndrome and its long-term consequences. The purpose of this article is to review the literature, discuss the epidemiology of cell phone use and MSK symptoms associated with its use in children and adolescents, describe its clinical presentation, explain the pathophysiology behind it, and provide preventative guidelines that can be used by this age group to allow for the continued use of these electronics without harmful effects on their posture and long-term health.
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spelling pubmed-100486472023-03-29 Neck and Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Symptoms Secondary to Maladaptive Postures Caused by Cell Phones and Backpacks in School-Aged Children and Adolescents Warda, Danny G. Nwakibu, Uzoma Nourbakhsh, Ali Healthcare (Basel) Review Technology is an essential part of our lives. Nowadays, it is almost impossible to leave the house without a cell phone. Despite the wide range of benefits of cell phones and handheld electronic devices, this evolution of technology has not come without a price. The pandemic of cell phone use among children and young adolescents has led to the emergence of a set of musculoskeletal (MSK) symptoms that have not been seen before in this age group. These symptoms can range from neck and shoulder discomfort to pain, peripheral neurological symptoms of the upper extremity, and long-term complications such as disk prolapse and degenerative disk disease of the cervical spine. This clinical presentation is known as “text neck syndrome.” In addition to MSK symptoms, text neck syndrome could also include eye and ear symptoms, psychological problems, peripheral neurological symptoms, and poor academic performance. Multiple mechanisms have been discussed by which cell phone use causes MSK symptoms. Maladaptive postures, a decrease in physical activity leading to obesity, and the direct effect of electromagnetic radiation are some of the mechanisms by which long-term use of cell phones leads to the clinical presentation of text neck syndrome and its long-term consequences. The purpose of this article is to review the literature, discuss the epidemiology of cell phone use and MSK symptoms associated with its use in children and adolescents, describe its clinical presentation, explain the pathophysiology behind it, and provide preventative guidelines that can be used by this age group to allow for the continued use of these electronics without harmful effects on their posture and long-term health. MDPI 2023-03-10 /pmc/articles/PMC10048647/ /pubmed/36981476 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060819 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Warda, Danny G.
Nwakibu, Uzoma
Nourbakhsh, Ali
Neck and Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Symptoms Secondary to Maladaptive Postures Caused by Cell Phones and Backpacks in School-Aged Children and Adolescents
title Neck and Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Symptoms Secondary to Maladaptive Postures Caused by Cell Phones and Backpacks in School-Aged Children and Adolescents
title_full Neck and Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Symptoms Secondary to Maladaptive Postures Caused by Cell Phones and Backpacks in School-Aged Children and Adolescents
title_fullStr Neck and Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Symptoms Secondary to Maladaptive Postures Caused by Cell Phones and Backpacks in School-Aged Children and Adolescents
title_full_unstemmed Neck and Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Symptoms Secondary to Maladaptive Postures Caused by Cell Phones and Backpacks in School-Aged Children and Adolescents
title_short Neck and Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Symptoms Secondary to Maladaptive Postures Caused by Cell Phones and Backpacks in School-Aged Children and Adolescents
title_sort neck and upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms secondary to maladaptive postures caused by cell phones and backpacks in school-aged children and adolescents
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10048647/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36981476
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11060819
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