How old do you look? How about your spouse? How about your kids?

We spend billions on skin care, Botox (yes even 20 year olds), surgery to look younger but how about that “hunch”? The hunch that is actually called the iHunch! 

In an article written for the New York Times, called “Your iPhone Is Ruining Your Posture — and Your Mood“, Amy Cuddy tells us that “Smartphones are ruining our posture.  And bad posture doesn’t just mean a stiff neck. It can hurt us in insidious psychological ways.“

At WOW, we never used to see that hunched posture in anyone younger than 75 or 80; now we are seeing it in middle schoolers.

And this doesn’t even touch the subject of “What are your kids DOING on those phones?”

Trust me, you can have all the surgery, facials and sun protection you want but nothing will age you more quickly than the forward hunch, on the inside and out.

Again, from Cuddy’s article: “The average head weighs about 10 to 12 pounds. When we bend our necks forward 60 degrees, as we do to use our phones, the effective stress on our neck increases to 60 pounds — the weight of about five gallons of paint.“

YIKES!

That hunch not only makes you look older (horror of horrors) but it will age your body and brain. That hunch limits the amount of oxygen in your lungs and cells. Do your cells need oxygen? Yep. As we discussed it messes up the communication between our brain and our heart, lungs and upper digestion.

Hunching affects your memory and your moods! Many studies have been done that indicate good posture equals higher self esteem, better memory retention and more.

Stop in and let us do a posture assessment.

I have a “hunch” (sorry I couldn’t resist) that you, your spouse or your kids may be heading in that aged posture, or unhealthy psychological effects. It takes only minutes – much quicker than a facial, or therapy.

I hope to see you soon,

Dr. Julia Keiser