Get a headset!
I have a video series on my own blog called The One Thing. In this series, I ask experts in different areas of health, wellness, and fitness to share their single best piece of advice for preventing or relieving back and neck pain in 60 seconds or less.
Yesterday, someone asked me what my One Thing was, and frankly, I had never thought about what mine was.
It's this: Stop cradling your phone between your ear and your shoulder!
It sounds obvious, like so many back & neck pain tips, but look around your workplace, and notice how many of your coworkers are doing it right now.
Walk down the street on any given day and see how many people are regularly committing this anatomical sin—worse when they are out and about, as cell phones are likely thinner than their home or office phones, causing them to crank their neck all the way to one side or another. The truth is, holding your phone up to your ear is only marginally better.
Almost all commercially available phones have a jack for a headset, and this one addition—more than almost any other purchase—will save you from neck ache, and potential trouble.
Headsets are available just about anywhere (our local drug store has five different models available starting at $2.99, so it’s not a big investment.)
So there you have my One Thing!
Andrew Kirschner, D.O., is a board-certified physician with a private practice in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, and a consultancy in Miami, Florida. He specializes in treating individuals and couples with musculoskeletal and back pain. To learn more about his practice, please visit BackTogether.org.
From: My newest Post on Martha Stewart’s Whole Living Daily Blog, have a great holiday weekend… « BackWords | 5/31/10 at 7:12 am
[...] Here is a link to my most recent post on the Whole Living Daily Blog- a few thoughts on one of my pet peeves- cradling your phone between your ear and shoulder. I have been known to hassle people about this while walking down the street. No- I don’t think of myself as the ‘back police’ but this, and kids carrying hundred-pound book bags are two things that drive me nuts! [...]
From: The Health Hazards of Freelancing | Laurie Boris, Freelance Writer | 1/7/11 at 3:54 pm
[...] the things you use regularly within easy reach to avoid repetitive strain. And, if I ever see you cradling that phone between your ear and your shoulder, I will come down there and give you a time-out. Don’t [...]