These shocking X-rays show teenagers and children as young as seven developing hunchbacks and abnormally curved spines because of an addiction to smartphones.
A leading Australian chiropractor has warned that ‘text neck’ – a condition often brought on by bending over phones and tablets for several hours at a time – is becoming an epidemic.
Dr James Carter, based in Niagara Park, on the NSW Central Coast, said the relatively new condition can lead to anxiety and depression as well as spinal damage.
He revealed he had seen an ‘alarming increase’ in the number of patients with the condition over the past few years and said 50 per cent of them are school-age teenagers.
‘I have started seeing lots of cases over the past two years, especially in young schoolchildren and teenagers,’ Dr Carter told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The condition is called ‘text neck’ because it is often caused when people sit with their heads dropped forward looking at their devices for several hours at a time.
‘Instead of a normal forward curve, patients can be seen to have a backwards curve. It can be degenerative, often causing head, neck, shoulder and back pain.
‘Many patients come in complaining they have a headache, but we actually find text neck is the cause of it. They often fail a simple heel-to-toe test and tend to fall over.’ (continue reading)