Neck Muscular Load When Using a Smartphone While Sitting, Standing, and Walking

Abstract

Objective Myoelectric activity of neck extensor muscles and head kinematic variables, when using a smartphone for one-handed browsing and two-handed texting while sitting, standing, and walking, were evaluated to compare the neck muscular load during these tasks and across the posture conditions. Background There has been limited research on the relation between head-down postures and the muscular load on the neck of smartphone users. Methods Twenty-one asymptomatic young users were asked to perform one-handed browsing and two-handed texting tasks in each of the posture conditions, and the myoelectric activities of the neck extensor muscles, head kinematic variables, and upper back posture were quantified. Results The muscle activation level when using a phone during walking was 21.2% and 41.7% higher than that of sitting and standing on average ( p < .01). Head vertical and angular accelerations were also significantly greater ( p < .01) for walking than for sitting and standing conditions. Between the two conducted tasks, participants flexed their heads more significantly ( p < .01) with higher activation of the neck extensor muscles ( p < .01) when texting as compared to when browsing. Conclusion Results indicate that two-handed texting while walking would be the most physically demanding scenario for neck musculature, and it might be attributable to the dynamics of the head while walking with the head facing downwards. Application These findings can be used to better understand the potential relation between smartphone use and the occurrence of neck musculoskeletal problems and to inform the users of the ergonomic risks of using smartphones while walking.

The effect of the use of smartphone while walking on the electromyography activity of the lower extremity in young students

“…Additionally, walking while using a smartphone may slightly increase the pelvic anterior tilting, knee hyperextension, and ankle plantar flexion, thus, rendering less muscle activity of the gluteus maximus and medius, biceps femoris, rectus femoris, gastrocnemius, and tibialis anterior compared to when walking without using a smartphone. In summary, the flexed head during walking while using a smartphone lowers the center of gravity, activates more muscles of the neck ( Yoon et al, 2020 ) and lumbar area ( Choi et al, 2021 ), and lessens the activation of the extensor muscle in the lower extremity. Muscle activity imposes less load to the less active muscles and greater load to more active muscles ( Kouzaki and Shinohara, 2006 ).…”

Effect of airplane passenger seat armrest height on human neck comfort when using a smartphone

“…Each experimental condition was recorded separately for 10 min, and there was a 2 min break between consecutive trials. Previously, several related research articles have used sampling times of around 10 min for single experimental tasks, so for the experiments in this paper, the sampling time for single experimental tasks is sufficient [25][26][27]. Each participant can determine the gaze distance between the mobile phone and the eyes under different experimental conditions.…”

Entrenamiento centrado en la musculatura cervical profunda en prevención del dolor de cuello

“…Sin embargo, en fases más avanzadas del programa, cuando el sujeto active con más facilidad la musculatura profunda, se puede aumentar la carga de los ejercicios porque en este momento pasará a cobrar un papel fundamental del entrenamiento la fuerza y la resistencia a través de un punto de vista morfológico muscular (O' Leary et al, 2003;Pierobon et al, 2017;. Es por ello, que en la fase 3 se continúa aumentando la carga y aparece un ejercicio que sigue generando una mayor activación profunda que superficial, pero con un ratio menor, ya que en este punto de la intervención lo que nos interesa es fortalecer esa musculatura en planos y situaciones diferentes de la vida diaria (Pierobon et al, 2017), como aquellas en las que se tiende a descender la mirada (Yoon et al, 2020). En la misma línea, en la fase 4 se pasan a utilizar ejercicios con ratios de activación similares entre musculatura superficial y profunda porque en esta fase nos interesa generar grandes activaciones de la musculatura profunda, a la vez que contracciones sinérgicas que estabilicen el movimiento.…”