Text Neck

Have you heard of Text Neck?  You can read more about it at www.theatlantic.com , that is where I got this picture.  To quote the article: "Sixty pounds is roughly the weight of four adult-sized bowling balls. Or six plastic grocery bags worth of food. Or an 8-year-old.

It is also, according to a new calculation published in the journal Surgical Technology International, the amount of force exerted on the head of an adult human who is looking down at her phone."

Ah!! I do not text a great deal, but that is the position my head is in when I do hand appliqué and machine quilt, or probably even machine piece!  No wonder my neck hurts much of the time.  

Yesterday I machine quilted for 5 hours straight.  After having read this article, I decided to try and better my posture.  I realized that I was hunched over the machine trying to see clearly.  I took off my drug store glasses and was able to sit up straighter and see just as clearly.  Obviously the glasses are not the right strength for machine quilting with good posture!  I do view the glasses as safety goggles however, so I was a little worried about quilting without them.  My mother told me story once of her friend who, while sewing, had the needle break, shoot up and lodge in her eye!  She drove herself to the hospital with a needle in her eye!

Is quilting hazardous to your health?  I've always thought it bettered my health.  It makes me happy to create something pretty.  I guess it doesn't hurt to take some precautions though.  I will sit up straighter, take better care of my neck, buy new glasses or safety goggles and carry on enjoying my delightful hobby :)