Back and neck pain. Two of the most common complaints to come out of modern society, for sure – but there is a plethora of reasons for them. As a massage therapist you’ve undoubtedly had many a conversation hypothesizing with your clients about what the possible cause of their pain is. Usually it isn’t so difficult to narrow it down to something like poor posture, bad pillows or just plain old work stress. But the biggie these days seems omnipresent - I don’t think many would argue with the fact that a large percentage of back and neck complaints these days are a hangover from indulging in a little too much modern technology.
Never before have we had so many gadgets to play with and never before have we been so thoroughly hooked on them. Since the first smart phone crash-landed into the market in 2007, society has been besotted, willing slipping into arguably negative habits in the name of social connection. Gaming obviously still plays a big part in repetitive strain injuries and back pain due to poor posture; both of which are afflictions also suffered by many of the innumerable office workers out there who spend far too much time bent over their keyboards in the name of ‘making ends meet.’
Text neck – the latest name for digitally-induced damage
Massage therapists’ books have never been more full of appointments than they are in 2015, which is unlikely to be something we feel the need to complain about. However we are generally compassionate beings, especially given the aches and pains our own jobs generate for us – and as our customers tend to view us as healers, attributing us with varying degrees of supposed authority in the realm of physical conditions, aches and pains. As a result we are often required to engage in a certain level of conjecture about their conditions – and who wants to disappoint them? It certainly doesn’t hurt business to be knowledgeable about your clients’ aches and pains, as it stands to reason that they will have more trust in you if you know what you are talking about. With this is mind I present the latest of the technologically triggered traumas… known as ‘text neck.’
It sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it? Perhaps it is kind of silly. It’s a cringe-worthy condition highlighting exactly how obsessed we are in the digital age. Nonetheless, it’s fast becoming a common condition and massage therapists the world over will be treating it whether they can give it a name or not. Using a mobile phone is generally bad for us, it’s not hard to work that out. If it’s not for the microwaves it emits frying our brains, it’s the muscular strain we endure while clamping them to our ears. On top of this, we are leaning forward, hunched over our phones tapping out messages while our necks and shoulders are tasked with bearing the substantial weight of our heads. This position is entirely unnatural and is putting intense pressure on both our spines and muscles – if you imagine how much time spent this way accumulates over the course of a week, it may well appear to be as disturbing as it should be.
Massage therapist to the rescue
Most people don’t give it a second thought until their shoulders start seizing up and the headaches occur. That will be about when your treatment room phone will start to ring. Clients may not realize that wonderful and relief-inducing as our treatments may be, we are merely a temporary fix. They may not have considered the possibility of losing the natural curve in their spine over time, for example; or general degeneration with expensive and painful future consequences. It’s not rocket science, but it is something that seems to escape most peoples’ attention until damage is already manifesting. This is where we, the massage therapists, can make ourselves useful. Of course we can highlight the issue, speculate with customers or remind them of the dangers in their every day habits. But we could take it one step further even. It isn’t unthinkable to put this in your marketing materials, is it? ‘Text Neck’ is fast becoming the latest label on the street, so you can demonstrate that you’re in the know and of course that you’re better placed than most to be of assistance. People who otherwise may not have given it a second thought will thank you for it. After all, you are offering preventative treatment, relief and your sound advice all at once, so it seems like a win-win situation.
Text neck may not seem like a big thing in the big picture, but we know all too well the misery that back, neck and shoulder pain causes; it shouldn’t be underestimated. How often do you update your marketing materials to bring in new business? Do you actively research new conditions and buzz words to remain current? We would be interested to know what techniques you use for addressing such issues and whether you get more business from it and good client feedback.
