Is eyeing your iPhone a pain in the back?


Backbreaking? CBS 3 screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

The young have so much to contend with these days.

Dwindling employment opportunities and the prospect of being replaced by machines haunt their every breath.

And now they're discovering that even the machines they love might actually be causing them physical pain.

You may have noticed how young people are, more than ever, slouching so much that they walk with a permanent stoop. This, according to one survey in the UK, is caused by their so-called iPosture.

Yes, being stooped over your gadget, with your shoulders depressed and your midriff curled up, can lead to lower back pain.

Indeed, in this survey, coincidentally conducted by UK healthcare provider Simplyhealth, 84 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds admitted that they had experienced lower back pain within the previous 12 months.

The survey also discovered that their backbreaking iPosture caused them to miss 1.5 days of work more than their older counterparts.

And you thought gadgets were productivity tools.

Simplyhealth believes that the UK is "a nation on the point of a potential back pain epidemic."

Clearly this is something all nations should address. Wherever you are in the world, you see people curling their bodies over phones and tablets, as if they want to disappear into them.

Simplyhealth offered this quote from Dr. Brian Hammond of the UK's BackCare charity: "This survey data shows that those in the 18-24 year old bracket are more than twice as likely to experience pain in the middle of the back, and more than three times more likely to have pain around the upper back and back of the neck."

Should you be in that age bracket and suddenly feel a sense of vast panic, Simplyhealth says it has a solution.

May I quote Simplyhealth's own words: "To support individuals with back pain and those wanting to prevent it Simplyhealth and BackCare have developed a free App which allows users to input data on the type and location of their back pain to generate daily tailored advice as well as details of local specialist advice and support available."

Those with a keen eye and a happy iPosture will be concerned that this app will only make things worse.

Isn't it yet another reason to stay hunched over your phone?

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