Doctors yesterday said that older people should avoid tilting their head downward for long periods of time while wrapping zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves) for the Dragon Boat Festival next week, warning that it could cause damage to the back and cervical vertebrae.
The Taiwanese Osteoporosis Association said that tilting the head downward for three hours is like having a 22kg child sitting on your neck for 180 minutes, likely causing back and shoulder pain, muscle weakness, a hunch, or even compression fractures.
Yang Rong-sen (楊榮森), an attending physician at National Taiwan University Hospital’s Department of Orthopedics, said the prevalence of people aged about 65 developing vertebral compression fractures from osteoporosis is about 25 percent, with the ratio climbing to 50 percent for those about 85 years old.
He said people who lead a sedentary lifestyle or often hold a poor posture for hours are more likely to develop osteoporosis, while continuously being in bad physical positions can overstretch or overcontract muscles, causing them to lose strength and become painful.
Chan Ding-cheng (詹鼎正), an attending physician of geriatric medicine, said a US study suggested that tilting the head downward at a 15-degree angle is comparable to placing a 12kg baby on the cervical vertebrae, while tilting it at 45 degrees is similar to carrying a 22kg child.
People who are used to tilting their head downward for long hours when using their smartphones to read or play games have a higher risk of suffering from neck and shoulder pain, a hunch, or compression fracture, he said.
The National Osteoporosis Society has suggested several methods for people to assess their strength, such as standing on one foot for 30 seconds, touching the back of the neck, walking 20 paces on tiptoes, brisk running or jogging for more than five minutes, or lifting weights of more than 1.5kg.
People who are unable to do four of those should start doing exercises to train their muscles and improve their bone density.
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