Posted on the Korea Daily Newspaper on May 25, 2023, my article discussed about turtle neck.
Turtle Neck?
As many students face a lot of assignments in school, the time for sitting on the desk and finishing homework increased. The majority of students pull their head down to look at books, worksheets, and laptops, and those continuous actions create a turtle neck syndrome. Not only does turtle syndrome happen to students but also adults have more severe syndrome.
A simple definition of a turtle neck syndrome is a forward-neck posture which is created by either hanging the neck down or forward when studying or looking at electronic devices. It is called turtle because people who are enduring this syndrome look like the neck of a turtle.
Turtle neck syndrome is very harmful to the body and bones. Firstly, this syndrome can make our posture curved. It is often considered as an ideal posture when the spine and the neck bones are straight. However, turtle neck syndrome causes rounded shoulders and curved back. Furthermore, the stress gained on the neck results in chronic pains on the neck and shoulders. According to Benevida Healthcare, “Approximately 66% to 90% of the U.S. population suffer turtle neck syndrome and they do not know how to cure them.”
To cure the turtle neck syndrome, it is very important to be aware of one’s posture and make sure to maintain a straight posture. Then, exercises on the neck and soft massages to shoulders can help people significantly. For me, I also suffered the turtle neck syndrome. Muscles close to my neck and shoulders were so painful, so I decided to do some exercises and self-massage my neck. Now, I have a better posture than before, and I will keep making sure to not turn back to the bad posture I had.
Hajoon Song, Grade 9, International School of Beijing
The figures demonstrate the bad posture that people have when they suffer Turtle Neck Syndrome.
[Source: Hajoon Song, Author]
The neck of a turtle is very similar to people who have turtle neck syndrome.
[Source: Author, Hajoon Song]