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tion to it because the pain eased af- “The young girl has serious posture posture when using electronic devices
ter some rest. The pain keeps coming problems. Excessive smartphone use is a global trend.
back and hits me, especially when I do and long hours of sitting while study-
my homework on my laptop or look ing have led to turtle neck, rounded Rounded shoulders and turtle-
at my phone for hours, I realize that I shoulders, spinal misalignment, and necks are the two most common pos-
can no longer ignore it,” he adds. even chronic lower back pain,” Ming ture problems that lead to body pain
says. among students,” Hui says.
After seeing a doctor, he received
ultrasound therapy once a week for She warns that poor posture caus- “I spent half a day on
two months to treat his lower back es cervical spine rigidity and reversed
pain. spinal curvature, often followed by screen since I started
dizziness, nausea, and even breathing
“After spending a difficulties. my university study,

long time on screen, “The young girl mainly studying,

the pain is unbear- has serious posture playing video games,

able.” problems. Excessive and scrolling social

smartphone use and media posts. It’s easy

Sheng also has to exercise to build long hours of sitting to lose track of time
up the habit of adopting good pos- while studying have when you’re in the
ture and to be more mindful of taking
breaks while using electronic devices. led to turtle neck, middle of a game,

The average age of cervical spine rounded shoulders, and before I know it,
disease patients in China has dropped my neck is stiff and
from 55 to 39, with 37% of the pa- spinal misalignment,
tients now under 30 in recent years, sore,”
according to a report released by the and even chronic
Beijing Tsinghua Changgeng Hospital lower back pain,”
in 2023. “Many people like to slump into
a sofa and play with their phones, in-
cluding myself, but this posture dam-
The report points out that bad pos- Ming advises young people to
ture and long hours of desk work are adopt better daily habits such as ages the lower back because there is
the main reasons. avoiding tilting their heads while no support,” he adds.
using phones for hours and cross-
Based in Bozhou, Anhui Province, ing their legs. Hui suggests young people to exer-
yoga instructor Ming Jingyu, who has cise more and reduce screen time.
been teaching for seven years, ob- “Posture can be corrected by
serves more and more young people stretching and strengthening exercis-
are suffering from body pain due to es if problems are detected at an early
bad posture when using electronic de- stage,” she adds. Edited by Cathleena Zhu
vices. Sub-edited by Emma Wei
Hui Ka-kit, a lecturer of the Physi-
Ming’s youngest student is an cal Education Unit, PEU, at the Chi-
11-year-old girl. nese University of Hong Kong points
out that body pain caused by poor