Humans were designed to stand upright, but modern technology almost forces us to bow our heads. Look around, and you’ll see many people spending their time hunched over the small screen of their phones – they stare at it without looking away.

Statistics show that today, schoolchildren and students spend an average of 2 to 4 hours a day bending their necks at unnatural angles to view photos, read emails, or read text on their phones.

Orthopedists are sounding the alarm. The widespread obsession with social media and online games has led to an epidemic of poor posture caused by smartphones and tablets. The number of visits to doctors with diagnoses of intervertebral disc hernias has increased. About a quarter of the world’s population suffers from osteochondrosis and hernias in one form or another. Moreover, in recent years, these serious spinal diseases have become much more common in younger people. It has become increasingly frequent for young people aged 18-25 to visit the Vertebrology Clinic for such problems. Just 10-15 years ago, disc hernias were mainly seen in people over 30 years old.

A specific group includes cases where a hernia appears in the cervical spine.

The human head weighs about 5 kg when slightly tilted or in a neutral position. The more we tilt our neck, the heavier our head becomes due to gravity. For instance, when tilting the neck at a 60-degree angle to look at a selfie on a phone, we create a load of 30 kg on the cervical spine. This is roughly the weight of a seven-year-old child.

“The load on the spine increases several times when we tilt our head at different angles,” says Dr. Kenneth Hansraj, head of the spinal surgery department at the Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Center in New York, and lead author of a study published in Surgical Technology International. Tilting the head at a 15-degree angle adds 14 kg of load to the spine, at 30 degrees – 20 kg, and at 45 degrees, it adds nearly 25 kg of weight.

“As a result, the natural curve of the cervical spine is lost, leading to poor posture, insufficient brain nourishment, early wear of intervertebral discs, hernias, osteochondrosis, and other spinal problems,” explains Hansraj.

It’s no secret that good posture affects not only the spine but also the entire body. Studies have shown that good posture boosts serotonin, the “happiness hormone,” and reduces cortisol, the “stress hormone.” In contrast, slouching leads to both physical and emotional problems, provoking headaches, depression, digestive issues, heart diseases, and chronic back pain.

This is why Hansraj and his colleagues advise paying close attention to the position of the neck and trying not to bend it too much while using a smartphone.

“When you look at yourself in the mirror, make sure that one ear does not appear higher than the other (if you draw an imaginary line, it should be parallel to the line of your shoulders), and your shoulder blades (the so-called ‘angel wings’) should be drawn back,” says Hansraj. This is the optimal position for our spine and ensures good posture.