Teenager Diagnosed with Painful Neck Injuries Because of Constant Texting

Cellphones have become a valuable tool in today’s society where almost everyone owns one and could hardly live without this handy communication tool yet this has also brought pain, real physical pain, in some people.

As unreal as it might sound, 14-year-old Sarah Atchinson of Denver, Colorado in the US was diagnosed with a rather painful condition called “text neck” which was caused by her constant texting and use of her smartphone. Yep. We’re not joking.

In a report shared by 7 NEWS – The Denver Channel on YouTube, Atchinson’s doctor, Dr. Chad Cotter, described how the teenager had neck injuries that would have taken years to develop in regular people but had only taken the youngster a few because of her lifestyle. Instead of her neck having a normal spine curvature of around 40 degrees, Atchinson’s was reversed the other way. This led to intense pain that her parents had to rush her to the hospital for treatment.

Thankfully, the condition can still be treated and Atchinson is now undergoing physical therapy to address the problem. Head weights, shoulder exercises, resistance bands, and physical adjustments are being used by Dr. Cotter’s team to correct Atchinson’s problem.

Watch the news report about this rather weird but real condition here:

The Risks of Using Cellphones

Aside from the possibility of developing the so-called “text neck”, there are other health effects associated with cellphones. However, because these mobile devices have only been widely used in recent decades, there are no conclusive research studies about their long-term health effects on humans. There is a long-standing debate within the scientific community that cellphone radiation can cause cancer in humans but this has yet to be proven with specific evidence.

Still, the World Health Organization (WHO) took precautions, announcing on May 31, 2011 that “mobile phone radiation is possibly carcinogenic to humans”. Indeed, there have been studies that showed how prolonged mobile use was associated with certain tumors, especially those found in the salivary glands and the brain yet these studies are too few to cause wide-spread alarm.

Moreover, cellphones have become so valuable to people that it really is hard to imagine life without these hand gadgets. But if you are concerned about your health, try to keep your cellphone use as minimal as possible.

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