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Comment by kulahan | Hacker News Reader

Upper back and neck pain for me. Went to a Phys. Therapist and got a set of exercises. It was largely muscle weakness from bad posture - something many, many people will likely suffer in the coming years thanks to staring at screens on handhelds.

Mine was because I have the posture of a lump of VERY wet clay.

Also, losing weight helped a lot - less to carry around and hold in the right places.

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Prolonged sitting deconditions the gluteal muscles, and other muscles often compensate, which can overload them and alter hip/pelvic control. When tissues are strained, the body initiates repair via inflammation—a normal phase of healing. Routine NSAID use can blunt aspects of musculoskeletal healing in some contexts, so it’s worth using judiciously and with clinical guidance. With reduced movement, fascia can lose glide and become stiffer, limiting mobility. Over years, chronic abnormal loading may contribute to osteophytes (joint margins) or enthesophytes (at tendon/ligament insertions). Targeted strengthening, mobility work, and load management from a PT typically help.

What do you mean "in the coming years"? Smartphones have been mainstream for ~15 years now, daily long term computer usage for decades.

Computers have been more in the realm of the younger generations for a long time now, and young people can handle bad posture and other things more easily than the elderly can. I mean we're waiting on them to reach the age where their body can no longer handle it.

My dad had a business installing mainframes when I was young - back when mainframes were still installed in individual businesses, you know. At the time I was a kid, but I know we always had some of the first tech on the block, so I doubt many had tech before me.

I'm reaching the age where I can no longer handle a bad posture - I assume this is going to start getting bigger in the next 5-10 years. I could be wrong, I dunno, but I don't think so.

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