With the increasing popularity of smart phones, “low head” also came into being. Looking down at the phone has become a habit for many people. There is a saying that if you play with the phone with improper posture, it is possible for the cervical spine to bear up to 60 pounds (about 27 kg) of weight, heavier than a 7-year-old child, is this statement true?
When the body is upright, the weight of the cervical spine is the weight of the head, but when the head is tilted, the force on the cervical spine will also change. As the weight of the head is constant, then, the additional weight on the cervical spine, it all comes from the muscle tension, so how much weight can this tension add to the cervical spine? The experiment gives the answer.
Experimental preparation.
Human body model, two 0.5kg crystal ball, protractor, dynamometer, white rope
Experimental process.
1. Two crystal balls were placed into the model to represent the weight of the head. Attach a protractor to measure the change in the angle of the head, and tie a force meter to one end of the white rope to detect the change in the value of the tension.
2.When the head is perpendicular to the cervical spine, the muscle tension is 0, that is, all the weight currently borne by the cervical spine comes from the head, which is 0.5kg.
3.Increase the angle of low head. When the head is lowered to 15 degrees, the value of the dynamometer is 0.5kg, at this time, the force on the cervical spine is the sum of the weight of the head and muscle tension, that is, 1kg, which means that the pressure on the cervical spine at this time is 2 times the vertical.
4.When the angle reaches 45 degrees, the pressure on the cervical spine reaches 1.85kg, that is, the pressure on the cervical spine is 3.7 times of the vertical.
5, when the angle of the human head down to 60 degrees, the pressure on the cervical spine reached 2.25kg, that is, the pressure on the cervical spine reached 4.5 times of the vertical bearing.
Experimental results.
In fact, in real life, many “low head” when looking at the phone, most of the angle of head down more than 45 degrees, or even up to 60 degrees. With a head weight of 8 kg to calculate, when the head is low to 60 degrees, the cervical spine to bear the weight of more than thirty kilograms, which is equivalent to the cervical spine hanging two super watermelon.
The doctor said, the lower the cervical spine disc pressure will be greater, the cervical spine a total of seven segments, each segment has an intervertebral disc, the longer the head down, the greater the angle, the greater the force on the intervertebral disc and cervical vertebrae will be.
Cervical spondylosis has a high incidence
As of 2007, the prevalence of cervical spondylosis among adults in China reached 10% to 15%, with 50 million patients suffering from cervical spondylosis and 1 million new patients each year. Cervical spondylosis has become a common disease among middle-aged and elderly people in northeast and northern China, and there is a trend of increasing incidence in other regions.
More than 70 kinds of symptoms are related to cervical spondylosis
According to the data, there are more than 70 clinical symptoms related to cervical spondylosis. Beware of cervical spondylosis with the following symptoms!
(1) Frequent dizziness: This condition often occurs when the neck is active, especially when the head is suddenly turned and you feel dizzy, which is healed in a few seconds in mild cases but can last for several days or longer in severe cases.
(2) Numbness and weakness of the fingers and soreness of the shoulders: the most common symptom in the daily life of people at risk of cervical spondylosis, mostly caused by long-term head down, neck stress and strain of the posterior cervical muscles, ligaments and other tissues, excessive fatigue of the neck and shoulder muscles, which in the long run causes degenerative changes in the neck and stimulates the nerve roots.
(3) repeated “pillow”: is due to soft tissue strain in the neck, lost the function of maintaining the stability of the cervical spine joints, clinically called “cervical instability”, there is a tendency to rest to reduce the natural relief and exertion aggravated by cold recurrent attacks. Recurrent pillow fall” is a sign of cervical spondylosis.
(4) Frequent migraine, nausea, tinnitus, hearing loss, panic, chest tightness: This is due to a prolonged posture, causing lasting spasmodic contraction of the neck muscles, and the blood circulation of the muscles is impaired, which over time will cause degeneration of the neck, ligament calcification, etc., resulting in symptoms caused by insufficient intracranial blood supply or sympathetic nerve dysfunction.
Hazards of cervical spondylosis
1, the relationship between cervical spondylosis and hypertension, coronary heart disease, cerebral ischemia: In recent years, scholars at home and abroad have recognized that one of the common sources of abnormal blood pressure in middle and old age, coronary heart disease, arrhythmia, cerebral ischemic disease, etc. is cervical spondylosis.
2, cervical spondylosis and neurasthenia, motor neuron disease, cerebellar atrophy, spinal cord cavitation and other neurological diseases have a relationship: more than 80% of people with neurasthenia suffer from cervical spondylosis, and more than 90% of patients with cervical spondylosis have various symptoms of neurasthenia, of which the vertebral artery type accounts for 100%, therefore, prevention of cervical spondylosis can prevent and control neurasthenia.
3, the relationship between digestive system diseases and cervical (thoracic, lumbar) spondylosis: cervicothoracic spondylosis is closely related to gastroptosis, ulcer disease, gastrointestinal dysfunction, stomach cramps, cholecystitis, gallstone disease, while the lower thoracic and lumbosacral spondylosis is particularly closely related to functional colon disease and pelvic disease.
How to prevent and treat cervical spondylosis?
1, correct sitting posture: avoid cervical spine for a long time to maintain in a fixed position, generally about 1 hour should do some simple neck activities. Also avoid half lying and half sitting posture.
2, cervical insulation: avoid cold neck including sweating, rain, direct wind and cold, etc.
3, neck pillow method: take the supine position, the bath towel folded and rolled into a cylindrical pad under the neck, pay attention to adjust the height of the cushion pillow, on the one hand, to the cervical spine curvature pad out, that is, under the neck with a sense of support; on the other hand, the head of the back of the pillow and can not leave the bed. Once a day, each time the pad time to 30 minutes to 1 hour is appropriate, do not be too long. This method helps to restore the physiological curvature of the cervical spine.
4, cervical spine health exercises: cervical spine forward flexion, back extension, left and right lateral flexion, left and right rotation, a total of six angles, each angle alone to the maximum range of activities, each do 3 to 6 times. Repeat several times a day. Do not too fast, too violent head ring shaking.