Pokemon Go destroying your health?
Is Pokemon Go destroying your health? Pokemon Go is the new craze and is sweeping across the nation. Everywhere you go you see people playing this game with their phone. Just look around ASU, Mill Ave., Kiwanis Park Tempe, Freestone Park Chandler, or just any statue or land mark, people of all ages are there. It is amazing how this App has motivated to get people out waking and exercising like never before. I have been trying to inspire people for years with my 6 weeks to wellness challenge and struggle to compel people to get out and move everyday.
This new APP seems to offer the motivation many people need to get out and exercise. Research shows that walking 10,000 steps a day or 5 miles is one of the single most important components of overall wellness plan. People who walk and move daily show much greater health outcomes. They take less drug, need less surgery, have better mental clarity, avoid insulin resistance, keep weight off, have less pain and inflammation, and have overall better moods.
So how could Pokemon Go be bad for us? It is not the walking it is the constant looking down at your phone that can be bad for your spine. Chronic forward next flexion that we see in texting and Pokemon Go is the problem and can destroy your health over time. I have written about “Text Neck” in the past and described that relationship of the neck being flexed forward for long periods of time that leads to early joint deterioration and degenerative arthritis.
The head weighs 12 lbs on average and those postural muscles that hold up your head get over strained with chronic neck flexion. Try this experiment, grab a 12 lb bowling ball and hold it over your shoulder inline with your forearm. You will feel it is heavy but you should be able to comfortably hold it like this for 20-30 seconds with little trouble. Now try to hold it forward of your forearm about 35 degrees. This is about the forward flexion that it takes to play Pokemon Go or test on your phone. Now haw long can you hold that 12 lb bowling ball?
So you can see that over time these postural muscles will get over worked and tired. In fact they are already overworked and tired for sitting at the computer at work all day. Much like car accidents this is the reason that I see so many patient come in with neck pain and headaches. When the neck goes from a normal c curve to a strait curve or even worse a reversed c curve it is only a matter of time before you will start to show decreased range of motion, headaches, altered balance, preconception, and even lower back pain.
So before you go out for your next Pokemon Go hunt schedule a spine evaluation with us at Reed Chiropractic and see what condition your neck is in today. Together we can make the proper recommendation for chiropractic care and get you started on a home exercise program to address any posture distortions that may currently be present. Together, we can take advantage of the good health benefits and stop the negative health benefits of this new craze Pokemon Go.
Pokemon go destroying your health, we can help!
Reed Chiropractic
250 W. Baseline Rd. #107
Tempe AZ 85283
480-785-1355
