[On biomechanics of the cervical spine when using a smartphone].

This paper deals with biomechanics of the cervical spine when using a smartphone. The forces acting on the vertebral bodies, vertebral joints, intervertebral discs, muscles and ligaments increase as the angle of flexion of the cervical spine increases. The disorders caused by smartphone neck, on the other hand, are mostly acute and can be treated well with regular exercise and strengthening the neck muscles. Therapy is therefore also suitable for prevention. However, the long-term effects should not be disregarded, because the increasing possibilities for using smartphones also mean that the average daily use increases more. Especially the daily screen time for young people is getting longer and longer. The currently still acute clinical picture of the smartphone neck, which rarely takes a chronic course and causes long-term damage, could develop into a larger chronic clinical picture due to missing or too late measures.