Bay Area chiropractor says he is seeing “text neck,” pre-arthritis symptoms in younger people

By CBS Bay Area

A Bay Area chiropractor is sounding the alarm as he says he has been seeing more younger clients experiencing symptoms from “text neck.” 

“You would start to feel tightness in the cervical spine here, it’s going to come down and tight pulling sensation,” Dr. Paul Dancy of Joint Chiropractic in San Leandro, told CBS News Bay Area. 

“Children are now starting to come in with text neck. And some children are starting to come up with pre-arthritis before they’re 21. That’s never been heard of,” he added. 

He advises people to lie down, extend their arms, and hold the phones above their heads, or people should hold their phone at eye level, rather than looking down.

“Bring the phone all the way up, all the texting you need to do, respond to emails. Hold it neck up,” Dr. Dancy said. 

Angel McTiller has been seeing Dr. Dancy for the past seven years, and said she’s been having neck pains. 

“Because it’s like constant, yeah, and so now, I just have relief,” she told CBS News Bay Area. 

She added that she is concerned about this alarming trend of text neck in the younger generation. 

“It’s creating more health issues for these children and it’s not giving them the quality of life that they need, especially growing up in their formative years, and it’s taking away from that,” McTiller said. 

Bianca Ennix is an attorney and said she spends hours in front of a screen every day. She said that she is taking measures to help prevent worse symptoms. 

“Lift my computer up so that my screen is straight ahead instead of me looking down, which is great,” she said. “He’s suggested different cushions I could put in the back of my chair so it could help support my lower back.”

Dr. Dancy is passionate about his work and said he hopes to continue serving and educating families in the Bay Area. 

“Do good work in the community, serve the community, and that’s what allowed me to be here for 27 years,” he said.