Text neck is a modern age term used to describe repeated stress injury and pain in the neck resulting from excessive watching or texting on hand held devices over a sustained period of time. It is also known as Tech Neck syndrome or Turtle Neck posture or anterior head syndrome. Technically, it is early cervical spondylosis, reversible to some extent.
Treating text neck or early cervical spondylosis typically involves a two-pronged approach:
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Lockdown 4 will come into effect from 18/ May till the end of the month. But the pandemic is still to achieve its peak in India. Please remember to follow the following DONT'S for the next few months.
1. DON’T THROW OUT YOUR MASK YET Easing of lockdown does not mean the pandemic is over and done. On the contrary, we are only beginning to witness the effects of the virus in its full potential. As non-essential businesses begin to open due to economic reasons, be sure to follow compulsory social distancing. Expect to see all shops with employees and other customers wearing face masks or other face coverings. Masks are now compulsory in all public spaces. Be ready to be denied entry if you are not wearing one. Also, keep your ID proof/ Aadhar always handy as identification will be difficult due to the face covering. Expect a less personal experience wherever you go, like being denied entry if your temperature is too high or ordering at counters with dividers between. Expect that some shopping and socializing experiences won't go back to normal for some time. Bottomline - Always wear a mask and carry a spare one lest the one you are wearing gets torn/ soiled. 2. DON'T IMMEDIATELY VISIT ELDERLY/ HIGH-RISK PEOPLE There's nothing we would rather do when lockdown ends than rush out and meet our parents and other seniors. But that might not be the best move for them. We might be asymptomatic carriers and our single meeting with them might transmit the virus to them. You can definitely meet them following all the safety instructions of mask/ gloves/ social distancing but we often tend to loosen our guard amonsgt our loved ones. So, for people who are in high-risk groups, keeping a healthy distance may still be the best way to keep them safe. Though early vaccine testing is underway, an approved vaccine is still thought to be a year away, at the very least. That doesn't necessarily mean you can't meet your loved ones for a full year. Antibody testing is a method that will tell us if we have already been exposed to the coronavirus. Unfortunately, it is still not clinically available for routine testing in Mumbai. 3. DON'T ATTEND A PARTY OR THROW ONE Social distancing measures are being kept for a reason, and that is to slow the spread of viral transmission from people who come into close contact. Hosting a party at home or attending one at a restaurant when they reopen will jam people together in a room, giving any lingering coronavirus the prime opportunity to infect others, who then could pass it along. Though restaurants, malls, cinema theatres, auditoriums, religious places are on the list of closed places in Mumbai; for people living in the Green zones, avoid visiting these places. 4. DON’T GO TO YOUR LOCAL GYM Gyms and fitness centers are also on the list of closed places but in socities with in-house gyms which are open, think before you grab your water bottle and lace up your shoes. Enclosed areas where people breathe the same recirculated air for long periods of time are especially high risk, and that's what gyms are. Even if you sanitize the same common equipment between use, gyms are ripe for exchanging germs. Severely limiting the number of people in the gym at a time, and how long they can work out, is one approach. Gyms may ask their patrons to exercise wearing masks which could make breathing more difficult during intense workouts. So exercise at home for the time being. 5. DON'T STOP WASHING YOUR HANDS Relaxed restrictions don't mean that the coronavirus outbreak is over. There are economic reasons for businesses to reopen, while the virus continues to spread, although at slower rates. Remember that the goal of stay at home orders and thorough handwashing is to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed (which is already happening in Mumbai) with patients in critical condition and minimize your risk for acquiring the virus. Hopefully, the good hand-washing habits we have acquired during this time will stick around, including longer, more thorough washing with soap, and more frequently after coming into contact with common surfaces. 6. DON'T PLAN A VACATION We all have made a bucket list of every place in the world we would want to visit once restrictions lift. And many of us have then revised it to local travels, like a hiking trail or the beach or National Park and so on. But we need to have a little patience. While hotel prices will be enticingly cheap when nonessential travel is first deemed acceptable again, flying or travelling in a train is not going to be fun experience anymore. Think: wearing masks for the duration of the travel, limited or no food service and plenty of closed businesses along the routes. You can travel in your cars, but this is not the correct moment for the same. So, for now, enjoy the change of scenery on your television/mobiles only. 7. DON'T LET DOWN YOUR GUARD As a global society, we can't say for certain what will happen next -- if a sudden surge in new coronavirus cases will make it necessary to reinstitute lockdown measures, or worse, a more contagious strain mutates and makes its presence felt. REMAIN CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC WITH OUR FREEDOM TO MOVE, BUT BE REALISTIC AS FUTURE IS STILL UNCERTAIN. Let us elaborate some of the most useful points.
1. Always wear a face mask in public places Though made mandatory by the Central Government, you can often see people not adhering to the same. Let us not be one of them. At the very least, it's a good idea to keep any kind of face covering on. The difference between the different kinds of masks available – N95, 3 ply mask, home made cloth mask, handkerchief are explained in another post. 2. Distance, distance and distance Social distancing is the norm right now, all over the world. The practice of keeping six feet away from those outside your home group extends to waiting in line at the grocery store/ bank/ pharmacy/ clinic, walking on the road and will be so when the non-essential shops/ businesses start opening. 3. Whatever you do, touching's off limits If they don't live in your household, don't touch them. Most of us are observing this dictum by now, but on the off-chance you see a friend or family member, resist the urge to shake hands or get anywhere closer than six feet. Let us trend NAMASTE. 4. Enough with the fingertips: Use your knees, feet, elbows and knuckles instead If you're still pressing buttons for lifts with your fingertips, stop. Any time you have to open a door, push a button, pull a lever or digitally sign for something, use a different body part instead. For example, I often tap out a PIN code or press a lift button with my knuckle instead of the pad of my finger. I push open a door with my shoulder or foot instead of my hands. Or you can wrap a handkerchief around the handle of any door you have to physically pull open (remember to put the handkerchief for washing as soon as you reach home). 5. Don't sort through with your bare hands At a time when fear is running amok, here's a little advice: Don't poke the bear. When sorting through stuff in a grocery store/vegetables, use a glove or stick your hand inside a fresh, store-supplied bag. Then you can use the outside like a glove to pick up so as not to touch every item with your bare hands. It'll make others feel more comfortable, and is just as likely to inspire them to follow suit. 6. Watch where you put your phone Avoid placing your phone on outdoor surfaces to begin with. The less you can expose your phone to shared surfaces, the less you need to worry about them in the first place. But do disinfect them once you reach home. 7. Stop handling cash While the highest risk of acquiring coronavirus comes from person-to-person transmission, we do know that shared surfaces can harbor the virus. Let us play it safe by setting the cash aside for now and relying more on contactless payments. Some businesses are even refusing to take cash as a safety measure for employees. 8. Carry a spare mask, handkerchief or napkin Carrying a spare mask or handkerchief with you always will go a long way . You may sneeze in your mask while standing in line for grocery or at a bank, and then you will have to breathe through the soiled mask for the rest of the time. Today, a handkerchief or napkin will also come in handy to clear away germs, or act as a barrier between you (or your phone) and a surface. 9. Don't make shopping trips a source of entertainment The point of stay at home is to keep you from transmitting the virus to others or acquiring it yourself. Yes, that can be boring, but better than the alternative ( having COVID -19) The bottom line: You don't want COVID-19, and you want to limit your exposure to others. So shop swiftly and efficiently. 10. Wash your hands every time you get 'home' Along with social distancing, washing your hands thoroughly is one of your best defenses against acquiring coronavirus. Give your hands a thorough scrub each time you get back. 20 seconds is the going recommendation, which may seem like ages, but if you wash slowly, it's easy to do. 11. Don't neglect your car and home After getting back from running errands, it doesn't hurt to wipe down your car and surfaces in your home, especially if you share it with others. Person-to-person contact is the most common vector, but viruses and bacteria do spread through objects and other forms of indirect physical contact. THE CORRECT WAY TO WEAR A SURGICAL MASK
Always put the white layer inside. A proper 3-ply surgical or medical mask has three layers – each with very specific functions : Colored (Blue/Green)- an outer hydrophobic layer, which repels water, blood and body fluids, Middle - a middle filter layer that is designed to filter bacteria, and White - an inner hydrophilic layer, which absorbs water, sweat and spit. The mask should always cover the mouth,nose and chin. Pinch the metal edge to contour the mask to the bridge of nose. When working at a computer for long periods, a person can help improve their sitting posture by:
To prevent bad posture and back health avoid:
Good posture means that the key parts of a person’s body are correctly aligned and supported by the right amount of muscle tension.
Best sitting position The best sitting position depends on a person’s height, the chair they are using, and the activity they are doing while sitting. A person can improve posture and achieve a proper sitting position by:
Walking is a great way to improve or maintain your overall health. Just 30 minutes every day can increase cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones, reduce excess body fat, and boost muscle power and endurance. It can also reduce your risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers.
Unlike some other forms of exercise, walking is free and doesn’t require any special equipment or training. Walking is low impact, requires minimal equipment, can be done at any time of day and can be performed at your own pace. To get the health benefits, try to walk for at least 30 minutes as briskly as you can on most days of the week. ‘Brisk’ means that you can still talk but not sing, and you may be puffing slightly. If it’s too difficult to walk for 30 minutes at one time, do regular small bouts (10 minutes) three times per day and gradually build up to longer sessions. However, if your goal is to lose weight, you will need to do physical activity for longer than 30 minutes each day. You can still achieve this by starting with smaller bouts of activity throughout the day and increasing these as your fitness improves. Physical activity built into a daily lifestyle plan is also one of the most effective ways to assist with weight loss and keep weight off once it’s lost. Some suggestions to build walking into your daily routine include:
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Dr. SANDEEP JAIN - ORTHOPEDIC, JOINT REPLACEMENT & SPINE SURGEON | BLOG |