Your smartphone is a pain ∈ the neck
Jaque Wilson, CNN
1] Chances are you're reading this while leaning over a table or slumped back ∈a chair. Your head is tilted forward; your shoulders are curved. If
[2] you're on a mobile device, your arms are bent by your side and your back hunch is even more profound. Am I right?
[3] The position you're ∈ is probably causing you pain, whether you're aware of it yet or not. Don't worry, physical therapists have a diagnosis for
[4] the headaches, neck cricks and achy shoulders. They call it "Text Neck." "Text Neck is not just a texting problem," said Dr. Dean Fishman. "Text
[5] neck is a gaming problem. Text neck is an e-mailing problem."
[6] Fishman originally coined the term ∈2008 while examining a 17-year-old patient. The teen came ∈ complaining of headaches and neck pain.
[7] As Fishman was trying to explain to the patient's mother exactly what the problem was, he glanced over and saw her posture. The teen was
[8] sitting ∈a chair, hunched over her smartphone, texting away.
[9] A recent study published ∈Surgical Technology International's 25th edition says texting may be hurting your back. Conducted by New York spine
[10] surgeon Kenneth Hansraj, the study found that bending your head to look at your mobile device held ∈ your hands can put up to 60 pounds of
[11] pressure on your neck.
[12] Hansraj's study includes illustrations of what happens when mobile users bend their heads at 15, 30, 45 and 90 degrees to look at their devices.
[13] He advises users be cognizant of their bodies. "We recommend that people should continue to enjoy their smart devices, but that they pay
[14] specific attention to where their head is ∈ space".
[15] The average human head weighs 10 pounds ∈a neutral position - when your ears are over your shoulders. For every inch you tilt your head
[16] forward, the pressure on your spine doubles. So if you're looking at a smartphone ∈ your lap, your neck is holding up what feels like 20 or 30
[17] pounds.
[18] All that extra pressure puts a strain on your spine and can pull it out of alignment. Dr. Tom DiAngelis compared it to bending your finger back all
[19] the way and holding it there for an hour. "As you stretch the tissue for a long period of time, it gets sore, it gets inflamed," DiAngelis said. "The
[20] real question is: 'What are the long term effects going to be?' ".
(Retrieved and adapted from http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/20/health/texting-spine-neck-study /index.html. Access on April 3rd, 2017)
Answer the question according to Text 1.
In the text, the words pounds (line 15) and inch (line 15), are used as units of
