(Newswire.net — September 30, 2019) — Scientists have found that there are changes in the bones of the head caused by an unnatural position people assume while talking. They noticed a bone growth on the back of the skull, in the occipital lobe area, which resembles a spike, Daily Mail reports.
This phenomenon was considered very rare when it was first noticed in the 1800s, but nowadays, this strange bone at the root of the skull can be felt more often. It is even visible in people who have no hair.
In young people between the ages of 18 and 30, this bone growth develops more rapidly, and experts say it most commonly occurs with mobile phone or tablet users. Thousands of volunteers, aged between 18 and 86, have been studied in detail by Australian scientists.
“I’ve been a doctor for 20 years, but it wasn’t until the last ten years that I began to notice that my patients had an outgrowth of the nape,” said Dr. David Shahar, one of the study’s authors, a chiropractor and biomechanics PhD.
He points out that the main reason for this worrying phenomenon is that young people often look down. Hours spent in the wrong position create pressure on parts of the body that are not intended for certain positions and as a result, these parts change slowly.
In particular, the muscles that connect the neck and the back of the head have recently been overused. Considering the fact that the human head weighs about five pounds on average, the muscles have to exert extra strain to support this load.
According to Dr. Shahar, new layers of bone grow on the human skeleton that strengthen and extend the area of the head.
People check their cell phones on average every 12 minutes, and one in five people spend more than 40 hours a week looking at them. Dr. Shahar and his colleagues found that “repetitive and continuous mechanical loading leads to adaptation of tendons and connective tissue.”
“Musculoskeletal disorders associated with poor posture while using computers and tablets have been extensively investigated and identified as risk factors for the development of associated symptoms on the neck, shoulders and forearms,” reads the report.
“Although bone nodules are unlikely to cause adverse effects alone, they may never disappear. Imagine having stalactites and stalagmites, if nothing prevents them, they will only continue to grow,” concluded Dr. Shahar.