Recall – Sometimes, after a long night of homework, I experience a “text neck.” On occasion, I do my homework on my bed often with my dog; therefore, I find myself in the middle of the bed, with very little back support,  not realizing until I’m done with my work the damage I’ve done (through aches and cramps). This position I often find myself in is referred to as the “down and forward.” This is the position promoted by cell phones and laptops, which both are usually held down by our waist and chest area, therefore, causing us to lean “down and forward.” as the term states.  The Human vulnerability that this attack is the musculoskeletal system in our body. This slouch isn’t shown to have had long-term effects yet. Despite that though the short-term pain can be remedied in a few different ways. One of which is just a simple upper backstretch, all you need is a chair, and a great option is a Thoracic extension. This stretch targets the mid to upper back. All you need to do is sit facing forward, allowing your upper body to fall over the back of the chair, then extend your arms above your head and hold that for 10 seconds, repeating it 3-5 times or until you feel that tension leave your upper back. To target your neck pain, you can do a simple neck roll. All you have to do is let your neck freely rotate limp around 360 degrees.

Continue that motion until you feel the tension subsides and your neck stops popping.

        Ponder – If I were to design an app to help fight bad posture, I would develop a reminder app. Every 15-20 minutes reminded you to stand for a moment to get your blood flowing and suggest a few stretches that would help relax your musculoskeletal system. This app would work with other apps like the health app on iPhones or an apple watch, much how an apple watch will remind you to stand after being sedentary for a while. The app I would create would suggest that you stand up and stretch to relieve tension off those same muscles in the musculoskeletal system that are affected by positions like “down and forward” or any other slouching position commonly caused by electronics. This app would be essential because if the user is stretching, standing up, and getting that blood flowing, not only will they be in less pain but possibly in none at all.

        That same user is going to be more productive because they are more comfortable. The blood flowing will stimulate their senses, causing them to have increased focus and memory, therefore getting whatever they are working on done faster and at a higher quality.

If the user were to use the app, I create it correctly, and I could almost guarantee they would leave every electronic session virtually pain-free, if not pain-free. You may be asking, isn’t this problem already being helped by standing desks. To that, I would tell you that it’s pretty controversial; if anything, it may be making it worse. Although you are standing,  the desk is lower from your head, which may apply pressure to your neck and back due to angles to achieve you work in such positions at the desk as it causes an individual to hunch over often.  Therefore the possible best solution would be an app that reminds the user to stand up, move around and stretch out those muscles stressed from the wrong posture.

https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/upper-back-pain-exercises?fbclid=IwAR1wmn8YYsGg060RG4QU7dnitl4VRE2B9gw6L2yAJ2omRQFc2xp1_8thKJE#10-stretches