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                                                                                                                                                                                                 know it, my neck is stiff and sore,” he
                The Hunchback of Smartphones                                                                                                                                                     says. 



                                                                                                                                                                                                    Like Li, Sheng Siyuan also suffers
                                                                                                                                                                                                 from chronic body pain, as he uses
                                                                                                                                                                                                 electronic devices for many hours
                                                                                                                                                                                                 every day.


                                                                                                                                                                                                    The 21-year-old university student
                                                                                                                                                                                                 has lower back pain, especially on his
                                                                                                                                                                                                 right side. He has been diagnosed as
                                                                                                                                                                                                 suffering from lumbar dorsal fasciitis
                                                                                                                                                                                                 and lumbar strain which means over-
                                                                                                                                                                                                 use of lower back muscles.

                                                                                                                                                                                                    Slouching without any support
                                                                                                                                                                                                 for long hours when using his smart-
                                                                                                                                                                                                 phone and laptop is found to be the
                                                                                                                                                                                                 main cause.


                                                                                                                                                                                                    “I spend about three to five hours
                                                                                                                                                                                                 a day on my laptop, and seven to eight
                                                                                                                                                                                                 hours on my phone. After spending a
                                                                                                                                                                                                 long time on screen, the pain is un-
                                                                                                                                                                                                 bearable. I can’t sit for a second with-
                                                                                                                                                                                                 out wanting to lie down,” he shares. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                    Sheng recalls his back pain first
                                                                                                                                                                                                 flared up near the end of his second
                                                                                                                                                                                                 year of study when he was having a fi-
                                                                                                                                                                                                 nal examination.
                                                                                                                              Li’s sitting posture for daily phone use, stilted leg, slouch on the
        More young people suffer from health problems due to the long-term use of smart-                                   sofa. (Photo courtesy by Li Xiaotian)                                     “At first, I didn’t pay much atten-
        phones with bad postures.

        By Christine Ge

               ears of bad posture while us-  very stiff and I couldn’t move it. I was   This young man was diagnosed     be the main cause of his neck pain by a
               ing a smartphone have caused  18,” Li recalls.                  with cervical lordosis, commonly re-       doctor.
        Yneck pain to university student                                       ferred to as “turtleneck,” six months           
        Li Xiaotian. He now has an hour-long   The 20-year-old student Li now  ago during a consultation at Shenzhen         Li shares that he always lies down
        physiotherapy session twice a month  always suffers from dull neck pain,  Pingle Orthopedic Hospital, a facil-    or lies on his back with his neck tilting
        and has to use plasters weekly to deal  and the pain sometimes can be very  ity  renowned  for  treating  spinal  and   forward while playing video games
        with the pain.                      intense when it attacks.           musculoskeletal disorders.                 on his smartphone for hours without
                                                                                                                          changing posture. 
           The 20-year-old student majoring    “When the pain comes, the sore-    The  condition  means  his  cervical
        in Chinese Studies found he could not  ness and swelling of my neck then  spine has lost its natural curvature       “I spent half a day on screen since
        turn his neck for the first time two and  becomes stronger. The intersection of  and is now curving forward, causing   I started my university study, main-
        a half years ago.                   my cervical spine and shoulder tin-  chronic discomfort and stiffness.        ly  studying, playing video games,
                                            gles. I can’t help but have to rub it with                                    and  scrolling social media posts. It’s
           “I wanted to look up at slides dis-  my hands,” he adds.               Using electronic devices for a long     easy to lose track of time when you’re
        played in class. Suddenly my neck felt                                 time with bad posture is confirmed to      in the middle of a game, and before I
                                                                                                                                                                           CT of Li’s neck. (Photo courtesy by Li)
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