Screen time and its impact on posture

Whether it is an intense pain in the neck or the lower back portion, your posture plays a crucial role in causing these localized aches and excruciating pain. Your body is made from bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles meant to perform or move in a particular manner. But the skeletal system takes a significant hit when you force your body to accustom itself to a particular posture that is not ideal. As a result, you get pain in the joints, bones, ligaments, and muscles.

There are many reasons why your posture can be different and not the right way it should be. One of them is screen time. Although the relationship between screen time and your posture sounds weird and irrelevant at the beginning, you will soon realize they are entangled at so many levels. In this blog, we have explained how screen time can affect your posture.

Sitting or standing in the same position for a longer period

The first thing you need to know is that your body is not meant to be in a static position for a long time. Not only will it impact your spine and the pelvic bone, but your lower limbs and joints will also get affected.

For instance, when you are working or watching something by sitting or standing for a long time, the following are the impacts on your posture:

1.      When you're sitting or standing in the same position, excessive pressure is applied due to your upper torso, especially on your lower back, pelvic bone, knees, ankle, and feet. You will see your feet and lower leg swelling up after sitting or standing for hours in the same position without making any movement in your posture. Also, your back will become stiff, and the muscles on either side of the backbone will be sore due to increased pressure in the localized pressure points.

2.      Similarly, you can also feel soreness and tenderness on your shoulders and the ball and socket joint between your arm and the collarbone. This happens due to the head and neck pressure on the cervical vertebrae and that connected joint.

Working on a laptop or PC with leaned shoulders

Often you will find yourself working on the laptop or PC with lean shoulders. It can happen due to a difference in your high level and the laptop's position or the improper height of the chair in which you are sitting. If this happens, the curvature of the cervical spine is impacted. Usually, 2nd to 6th cervical vertebrae get compressed when you continue to work with lean shoulders for a long time. As a result, the nerves get compressed, and you can develop spondylolysis or a frozen shoulder.

Not following the ergonomics while working

When you do not follow the ergonomic structure while walking, multiple areas of your body are affected due to improper posture. Whether you lean and continue to work or put excessive pressure on the entire backbone due to the hunched structure, the vertebral column and the nerves get affected. Spondylolysis in the cervical or lumbar area of the vertebral column, degeneration in cervical and lumbar nerves, excessive pressure in the coccyx region and the pelvic girdle are some consequences that you may have to deal with due to prolonged exposure to screen time without maintaining ergonomic posture.

Scrolling mobile while lying on the side for long

Sometimes, you will scroll through your phone for hours while lying on the same side. As the pressure generated is relatively high, blood doesn't flow properly through your arms and the shoulder that supports your body weight while lying on one side. Prolonged activity can lead to numbness in that particular arm, tenderness in the shoulder, and even a frozen shoulder.

Conclusion 

So, through the above-mentioned pointers, we have walked you through the significant consequences you can deal with if you do not maintain your posture while exposing yourself to screen time. Whether you are working or watching movies, cutting screen time to zero or minimal level is impossible in this digital era. So, the foremost thing you can do is maintain your posture and always stay physically active to reduce muscle soreness and bone stiffness. You can visit Medipulse hospital in Jodhpur for the best care possible.