Have you heard of 'text-body'?

Just like the people in London, everyone in New York takes the subway. 

Or buses.

Public transportation.

It's a great thing. 

(When it works.)

Last week when I was in New York, I took the subway every day. Several times a day.

One particular time was during morning rush hour and the the trains were packed and we were all squeezed in close together.

I was standing in the middle of the train squeezed between two people. 

A young woman to my right and a young man to my left.

(I can say that now because I'm not that young anymore. Haha!)

The woman had her headphones on, looking down, and using her iPhone. Because she was a lot shorter than me I could easily see what she was doing.

Candy Crush (I never learned why it's so popular and I don't plan on it anytime soon.)

The man next to me was also using his iPhone, but interestingly he was holding his arms up resting them on the metal bar that runs along the celing, checking his email in that position with his head up. 

Who does that?

I so badly wanted to tell the young woman that she was destroying her spine and killing her brain function by looking straight down at her phone.

(Is that a bit excessive? Not really.)

And I so wanted to commend the young man for having the awareness and knowledge that holding his phone up high (and using that rail as an arm rest) was brilliant posture maintenance!

The problem was that there were so many rushed New Yorker in the car, I think that if I did mention something to these young people, they'd look at me like a dork.

Still.

I couldn't help but notice how many people are completely clueless at their postures when they are using their mobile phones.

Take a look around you.

The next time you're out and about, waiting for your train or on the queue at the supermarket, just take a moment to observe how everyone is in a head-down position frantically texting away.

I don't even like to call it text-neck. 

It's text-body.

Why?

Because you're directly affecting the way your brain is able to process information and communicate to the rest of your body sending and receiving messages.

That's going to affect your whole entire body and the way it functions.

And the scary thing is, I see children using their parents' phones and iPads in the same way. 

That's where it's really destroying brain cells.

Children who use screens in a poor posture every day are blocking the healthy development of their brains and nervous systems. 

The health of an adult is very much determined by how healthy the brain and nervous system developed during childhood.

So, tell your children to hold the phone up at eye level, or rest your arms on something. 

Prop up a pillow and set up the screen where the child's neck is in a near-neutral position.

As for adults texting, start to become more aware of how you hold your phone. 

The more you spend time on that thing, the more damage you're doing.

And the more often you get regularly adjusted, the more you'll help you're body reorganise and restructure itself from the effects of texting obsessively.

See you next week!

— Dr MaryAnne.