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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)