It’s sort of ironic that, even though we live in the mobile age, we’re more immobile than we’ve possibly ever been. Tablets allow us to take the internet and any number of applications on the go, but most people still prefer to remain motionless while using these objects. And whereas ten years ago, someone who wanted to log onto the internet would have had to sit at a desktop computer (or at the very least balance a laptop on their lap), people can now contort themselves into any number of positions on any number of surfaces in order to interact with the web.
This is problematic when it comes to back and neck health. Our bodies are not set up to experience the kind of longterm bending that accompanies some types of tablet usage. A new report looks at a study that sought to reveal potential dangers of tablet usage, and it also offers tips from one of the individuals behind that study.
That person, the Director of Harvard’s Occupational Biomechanics and Ergonomics Laboratory, headed up a team that sought to determine it tablet users were craning or stretching their necks in a way that could contribute to injuries in the longterm. The researchers used infrared technology to deduce whether flexion was unhealthy.
The study determined that there’s not one position shown to be more unhealthy than others. That said, the aforementioned lead researcher noted that certain cases tend to make a person pivot their head at an awkward angle, and extended placement in this way could be harmful.
He cautions that tablet users should get in the habit of never staying in one position or angle for too long. Variety truly is the spice of life in this regard. Bodies are designed to move, and you want to encourage movement whenever you can. If you have a tablet hoisted above your head with your neck slung over the arm of a chair, don’t hold that position for more than a couple minutes.
You also shouldn’t use a tablet like a laptop or a desktop computer. If you set the tablet on your lap, you have to push your neck forward to an unhealthy degree to interact. The same goes for simply setting it on a table. If you want to use a tablet in this way, you should opt for a case that props it up like a computer screen. Typing on the touchpad for anything more than entering a website is another bad idea, as your wrists will start to experience pain. Instead, hook a keyboard up to the unit.
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