Horns are growing on young people’s skulls. Phone use is to blame, research suggests.
New research in biomechanics suggests that young people are developing hornlike spikes at the back of their skulls — bone spurs caused by the forward tilt of the head, which shifts weight from the spine to the muscles at the back of the head, causing bone growth in the connecting tendons and ligaments. The weight transfer that causes the buildup can be compared to the way the skin thickens into a callus as a response to pressure or abrasion.
The result is a hook or hornlike feature jutting out from the skull, just above the neck.
They have dubbed it “text neck” because they think it’s caused by users bending their heads forward to use the miniature screens of smartphones and other handheld devices. It’s not clear what, if any, problems these bone spurs will cause in the future.
Back in the day mothers used to nag their children, “Stand up straight!” Posture was important. It still is, but good luck in getting people to change their ways.
June 22, 2019
This seemed a bit dubious to me, so I investigated further. According to the Guardian the research only covered the bony growths, and didn’t measure phone use in any way. So the connection that was drawn between them is pure speculation. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/21/are-young-people-growing-horns-because-of-mobile-phones-not-so-fast
I know, correlation isn’t causation. It’s a theory that will no doubt be studied further. It is pretty clear that poor posture is the culprit.
oh my goodness.
there used to be many instructions too… (no doubt just Mother Made!)
“don’t cross your eyes they might get stuck that way!”
were you ever told that? LOL! we were. apparently it was fun to cross our eyes? !!
evolution is a strange and tricky thing. would be nice to come back in 100 years to see what all has changed! dogs might be talking! and people might have horns!
wow!
I didn’t hear the one about cross eyes. One of mine was never go outside with a wet head, you’ll catch pneumonia. That was extrapolating from one case my grandmother heard.
how bizarre…but of course, “neck” problems could well plague those in this position, later on. Arthritis springs to mind…
it’s well known that many in certain trades develop nasty problems in their later lives…minor things like asbestos which was seen has a bit of a hazard but it wouldn’t cause grief – but it has! And back then safety gear wasn’t standard…or if it was you were lackadaisical with wearing it.
Sitting all the time over computer screens can also cause problems. It pays to be aware and use common sense.
I just saw something about this the other day. Whether or not cell phones and other devices are the cause of it I can’t say but I imagine that in their older years they’ll experience some kind of problems with neck strain.
The trouble with life is some of the consequences of our bad habits aren’t apparent until too late. That’s why some people say, “If I had known I would live this long I would have taken better care of my body.”
Who knows how us human will look like in million years.
Coffee is on
We wouldn’t recognize them, I’m sure. Assuming humans survive, there are never any guarantees. Apparently we almost went extinct about 70,000 years ago. And even a couple of times before then.
I’ve noticed that people orient their phones or tablets like the phones are on a horizontal surface; as if their arms are table supports and the phone is lying on a table at the top of their arms. Then they stretch their faces outward like turtle necks to line up with the horizontal surface.
I’ve watched other kids bring the phone up to their faces, vertically…matching the phone’s orientation to their own face…which are also vertical. Those kids aren’t tempted to become turtle necked humans.
Yes, I try to orient my iPad vertically so I can keep my neck in good alignment too. It’s a good habit to get into.