Text Neck - It’s a Real Pain in the Neck!

Step Into Wellness

Do you have frequent neck, shoulder or back pain? You may have a recently identified con-dition called "text neck." The repetitive strain injury occurs when you spend considerable time looking down at your phone. Since 72 percent of Americans own smartphones, ac-cording to Pew Research Center, it's likely to affect many of us at some point if we do not change the way we use our phones. What Causes Text Neck? Your neck is designed to support the weight of your head in an upright position. Dropping your head increases the amount of pressure placed on the vertebrae in your neck and also strains muscles in your neck, shoulders, and back. When you hold your head at a 60 degree an-gle, like when you look down at your phone, it's as if you suddenly added another 60 pounds of weight to your head. Because your neck was not designed to support so much weight, permanent damage eventually can occur. If you spend a lot of time texting, play-ing games or surfing the Internet on your phone, the curvature of your neck may even be permanently affected. Although changes in the neck are often inevitable due to aging, chiropractors are starting to see young pa-tients with serious wear and tear due to tex-ting.

What Are the Symptoms of Text Neck? Symptoms of text neck include: Neck, shoulder, back, arm, and hand

pain Headache Spasms in the neck, shoulder and back Numbness and tingling A change in posture Tight shoulder and neck muscles What Are the Long-Term Effects of Text Neck? A variety of painful conditions can occur when you continually put too much stress on your neck, such as:

Disc Problems. Your discs cushion the

vertebrae in your spinal column. Although they're designed to be flexible, they are not meant to withstand the strong forces that oc-cur when you constantly keep your head low-ered. Over time, you may begin to experience cracked, slipped or herniated discs.

Pinched Nerves. Using bad posture

when you text can also increase your risk of a pinched nerve. The problem occurs when bone or tissue presses on a nerve.

Arthritis. Wear and tear on your verte-

brae can lead to early arthritis.

Bone Spurs. Bone spurs can develop

due to the stress on your spinal column and can cause pinched nerves.

Hunchback. Formally called kyphosis,

the condition causes your back to become rounded due to a curvature of the spine. Poor head position may also lead to other health problems. It's harder for your lungs to expand completely when you sit in a hunched position. When you take in less air, your heart has to work harder to ensure that enough oxygen reaches every part of your body via your bloodstream.

Who Is at Risk? Anyone who spends time texting or using a smartphone can suffer from text neck. Your risk of developing painful back and neck symptoms may be higher if you work in a job that requires you to lower your head and you spend much of your free time using your phone to text, surf or play games. You are most at risk of developing text neck if you constantly keep your head down when you use your phone, laptop, tablet or other device. Minimize pain and damage to your back or neck with these tips.

Tips to Avoid Text Neck on page 2

In This Issue:

Text Neck

July Happenings

Pet Safety for the

Holidays

Food Expiration Dates

Eye Injury Protection

Fireworks Safety

July 2016

Health Fairs Near You in 2015

August 4 - Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola, 10 a.m.- 1 p.m.

August 9 - St Peter Church., 1 p.m.- 4 p.m.

August 10 - St. John Paul II HS, 1 p.m.- 4 p.m.

August 16 - St. Anastasia School., 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

October 26 - Cardinal Newman HS., 1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

November 4 - St. Helen School., 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Annual Personal Health Assessment (PHA)

Once you complete your biometric screen-ing at one of the six health, wellness and safety fairs, the PHA will be completed on site again this year and scanned, giving you your results immediately and saving you the extra step of having to go online to complete it!

This year those who have health insurance through the diocese will redeem and select their reward through the www.floridablue.com website. You will need to access your existing account or create an account through www.floridablue.com

Once there, select “Earn Blue Rewards” then “Learn More”.

Be sure to schedule your appointment by using the Pick A Time Scheduler link below: https://pickatime.com/client?ven=11604103

Page 2 Step Into Wellness

Pet Safety for the Holidays

For many people, nothing beats lounging in the backyard on the Fourth of July with good friends and family - including the four-legged members of the household. While it may seem like a great idea to reward Rover with scraps from the grill and bring him along to watch fireworks, in reality some festive foods and products can be potentially hazardous to your pets. ~ Never leave alcoholic drinks unattended where pets can reach them. Alcoholic beverages have the potential to poi-son pets. If ingested, the animal could become very intoxi-cated and weak, severely depressed or could go into a co-ma. Death from respiratory failure is also a possibility in severe cases. ~ Do not apply any sunscreen or insect repellent product to your pet that is not labeled specifically for use on animals. Ingestion of sunscreen products can result in drooling, vom-iting, diarrhea, excessive thirst and lethargy. The misuse of insect repellent that contains DEET can lead to neurological problems. ~ Always keep matches and lighter fluid out of your pets' reach. Certain types of matches contain chlorates, which could potentially damage blood cells and result in difficulty breathing-or even kidney disease in severe cases. Lighter fluid can be irritating to skin, and if ingested can produce gastrointestinal irritation and central nervous system depres-sion. If lighter fluid is inhaled, aspiration pneumonia and breathing problems could develop. ~ Fireworks (and thunder) can be very frightening to pets. Make sure to keep pets indoors and wearing their collar with ID tags. Also make sure they are microchipped and their information is up-to-date with the chip company. ~ Keep your pets on their normal diet. Any change, even for one meal, can give your pets severe indigestion and diar-rhea. This is particularly true for older animals who have more delicate digestive systems and nutritional require-ments. And keep in mind that foods such as onions, choco-late, coffee, avocado, grapes & raisins, salt and yeast dough can all be potentially toxic to companion animals. ~ Do not put glow jewelry on your pets, or allow them to play with it. While the luminescent substance contained in these products is not highly toxic, excessive drooling and gastroin-testinal irritation could still result from ingestions, and intesti-nal blockage could occur from swallowing large pieces of the plastic containers. ~ Keep citronella candles, insect coils and oil products out of reach. Ingestions can produce stomach irritation and possibly even central nervous system depression. If inhaled, the oils could cause aspiration pneumonia in pets.

July 1 - 31 National Fireworks Safety Month

July 1 - 31 UV Safety Month

July 1 - 31 Eye Injury Prevention Month

July 4 Independence Day

July 17- 23 National Drowning Prevention Week

July Happenings Calendar

Tips to Avoid Text Neck (Cont’d. from pg 1)

Raise Your Head Keep your phone at eye level as much as possible. Maintaining a good head position will help you avoid the painful symptoms of text neck. It's just as im-portant to avoid looking down at laptops and tablets. Using these devices on stands and lap desks will help raise them to an acceptable level.

The human head weighs about a dozen pounds. But as the neck bends for-

ward and down, the weight on the cervical spine begins to increase. At a 15-

degree angle, this weight is about 27 pounds, at 30 degrees it’s 40 pounds, at

45 degrees it’s 49 pounds, and at 60 degrees it’s 60 pounds.

Expiration dates can be a tricky thing—they’re not always set in stone

—which explains why so many of us are utterly befuddled by them.

A recent survey of more than 1,000 adults across the country conduct-ed by NSF International, a nonprofit public health group, found that one in four people use visual cues to decide if something is still safe

to eat.

Here are a few of the survey’s most interesting highlights:

17 percent of people are most likely to toss food only when it starts

to smell.

14 percent of consumers never throw out frozen food.

Two in five people say they have avoided eating something at a friend’s or family member’s house because they didn’t trust the

safety or quality of the food.

People over the age of 55 are most likely to keep food that’s past any date printed on the label—including an expiration date, sell-by

date, or best-used by-date.

The expiration dates manufacturers stamp on your grocery store goods aren’t set in stone—plenty of foods are still safe to enjoy long past them. But if you can’t trust the label, how do you know how old is

too old?

Here’s your definitive guide to real expiration dates—trustworthy so

long as your refrigerator is kept at a cool 40 degrees or below .

Eggs. In the fridge, raw eggs stay good for up to five weeks . Hard-boiled eggs don’t last nearly as long; they’re good for just a week in

their shells, and only five days when peeled.

Milk. Most common types of milk—whole, 1- and 2-percent, and skim varieties—will last for up to a week past their sell-by dates. But lac-tose-free milk will stay good for up to 10 days, and organic milk tends to last longer than non-organic because of a process called ultrahigh

processing treatment (not pasteurization).

Cheese. Soft cheeses like brie and feta are A-OK for a week past their printed expiration dates before they start growing fuzz (and not the good kind ). Curds like muenster, gorgonzola, and havarti might last a little longer, two weeks past their sell-by dates. But semi-hard cheeses like Cheddar and Swiss can last up to two months past their suggested expirations, and hard cheeses like Parmesan for up to four

months.

Food and Expiration Dates.. How Hard Could It Be??

Page 3

Fish. Properly cooled cooked fish won’t kill you if eaten after six days, though it might taste a little off. But don’t even think about saving sushi leftovers for more than a day or two—you want nothing

to do with raw fish older than that.

Chicken and pork. It’s totally cool to hold onto cooled chicken salad for up to five days. Raw chicken cutlets, whole chickens, or cuts of

pork, however, shouldn’t be in the fridge for more than two days.

Red meat. Raw roasts, steaks, and chops of beef, veal, and lamb are safe to eat for up to five days. Cooked, they’ll last another three

to four days.

Ground meat and seafood. Throw out any raw ground meat that’s

older than a day or two —regardless if it’s chicken, beef, or shrimp.

Soups and stews. It doesn’t matter if soups or stews are made with meat, vegetables, or a combination of both, they shouldn’t spend more than four days in the fridge (though they may taste better at the

tail end of that time). ).

Vegetables. Fresh vegetables run the gamut. Broccoli can stay fresh for up to two weeks when refrigerated, but chopped loose lettuce is only good for about three to five days before it gets slimy . Winter squash can even sit in the back of your fridge for up to a whopping three months. Generally speaking, the hardier the vegetable, the better it will hold up in the fridge. Unopened canned vegetables will last up to two years past their expiration date, and frozen veggies can hang around for up to another 10 months after their expiration

date.

Eye Injury Protection Month

More than one million people suffer from eye injuries each year and 905 of the injuries could have been prevented if the individ-ual was wearing appropriate protective eye wear.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, fire-works accounted for approximately 7,000 injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments. 1,000 of those were eye injuries.

Sparklers, fireworks, roman candles, and bottle rockets each contrib-uted to the eye injuries.

Injuries may result from being too close to fireworks when they ex-plode. Examples of this are bending over for a closer look at a fire-work that has been ignited or from a misguided bottle rocket. Chil-dren are often excited and curious around fireworks which can in-crease their chances of being injured.

Another cause of eye injury is yard work. Before using a lawnmower, power trimmer or edger be sure to check for any debris that may become a dangerous projectile. Always wear approved protective eyewear when working in the yard.

FIREWORKS SAFETY

Law enforcement is urging residents to think about safety as they make plans to celebrate the Fourth of July. Every year thousands of people are killed or crit-ically injured by fireworks, and more than half of those are children. Fireworks can result in severe burns, scars and disfigurement that can last a lifetime. For that reason, FIREWORKS ARE ILLE-GAL TO USE WITHOUT A PERMIT.

Some of the illegal fireworks prohibited for normal resale are as follows:

- Common Bottle Rockets - Firecrackers (Rolls) - Standard Fireworks

- M80’s with Mortar - M80’s - Projectile Fire-works

- Launchable Rockets with Stands

(The above listed items are only a few samples commonly purchased by people that are prohib-ited for sale.)

WARNING!!!!!!!!!

YOU SHOULD NOT SIGN “WAIVERS”

in order to purchase fireworks. A “waiver”

will not clear you of responsibility should you be

caught using illegal fireworks. Many law enforce-

ment agencies will be enforcing the use of illegal

fireworks. Using fireworks illegally is a first degree

misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail

and a $1,000 fine.

If you are using “legal” sparklers, novelties and trick

noisemakers there is still a risk of injury.

When lit, some sparklers can reach temperatures

between 1,300 and 1,800 degrees, which is at least

200 degrees hotter than a standard butane lighter.

COMMON SENSE RULES

Follow these precautions to celebrate safely:

-Use sparklers and other “legal” novelties on a flat,

hard surface. Do not light them on grass.

- Use sparklers in an open area. Keep children and

pets at least 30 feet away from all ignited fireworks.

Never use fireworks around pets! Keep in mind that

livestock such as horses and cows can be fright-

ened as well. While exposure to lit fireworks can

potentially result in severe burns and/or trauma to

the face and paws of curious pets, even unused

fireworks can pose a danger. Many types contain

potentially toxic substances, including potassium

nitrate, arsenic and other heavy metals.

- Light only one item at a time and never attempt to

re-light a dud.

- Don’t purchase or use any unwrapped items or

items that may have been tampered with.

- Keep a fire extinguisher or water hose on hand for

emergencies.

Remember: IF IT LAUNCHES OR EXPLODES, IT IS MOST DEFINITELY OFF LIMITS!

Source: Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office publication