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Excessive use of mobiles, tabs with heads flexed forward harmful: Experts

Kolkata: Excessive use of cell phones and tabs with heads flexed forward might affect the spinal cord, city doctors have warned.
People who over indulge in smartphones or other electronic gadgets may thus have to incur spine cord-related problems. According to doctors the frequent forward flexion leads to a postural change which in turn affects the cervical spine. This can also cause muscular stiffness and pain among patients.
Experts warned that if the curvature of the spine was not treated on time, it might lead to spinal degenerative problems such as disc prolapsed, which can lead to severe pain. It also generates a tingling sensation in patients which originates from neck and later spreads to the arms.
According to a recent survey, more than 75 percent adults have a cell phone with them and most of them use their phones for over 20 hours a day.
Not just mobile phones, there are Kindles, tablets, and I-pads whose excessive usage is responsible for spinal cord diseases.
If not treated in time, patients can develop numbness, loss of power in grip, weakness in legs and arms. It can be treated through physiotherapy or through medication in mild to moderate cases. In severe cases, surgical intervention is required.
Dr Sanjoy Bhowmick, a senior consultant minimal access spine and brain surgeon in the city, said: "Now-a-days, it is never easy to avoid mobile phones. Youngsters should utilise it and other devices judiciously so that they do not affect their health. Doing stretching exercises from time to time, holding the mobile phone at the eye level as much as possible are some of the ways through which spinal cord arthritis can be prevented," said Dr Bhowmick.
India ranks second in terms of the number of mobile phone users with more than 600 million people having a connection.
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