Health
'I’m a spinal surgeon – here’s how your posture is killing your back'
In a world of sitting at desks and slumping in front of screens, back pain is known to be the most common ailment among Americans.
Dr. Arthur L. Jenkins III, a board-certified neurosurgeon in New York — who is also fellowship-trained in spinal surgery and CEO of Jenkins NeuroSpine — blamed slouching and poor posture for grave effects on the back.
Poor posture stretches the spine in a way it’s “really not designed to do,” Jenkins said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
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“We stand much better than we sit,” he said. “And we find more people having that pain when they’re working or when they’ve been sitting for a while – it’s just a terrible position for our spines.”
Poor posture stretches the spine in a way it’s “really not designed to do,” a neurosurgeon said in an interview with Fox News Digital. (iStock)
Risks of ‘tech neck’
“Tech neck,” or excessive forward posture, is caused by looking down at devices, including phones and laptops, the expert noted.
Being in this “suboptimal” position while sitting down for long periods of time can be damaging.
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“At night, a lot of people will [watch] TV … and their chin is tucked down,” Jenkins said. “Most people don’t put TVs on their ceilings.”
This position can lead to a condition called kyphosis, where the front of the spine is strained and extra pressure lands on the disks.
“Tech neck,” or excessive forward posture, is caused by looking down at devices, including phones and laptops. (iStock)
This posture also stretches and pulls on the muscles in the lower back as they are forced to “stretch out and give,” said Jenkins.
“All the muscles are designed to be at their strongest when your spine is in its optimum position,” he said. “Once you get out of the optimum position, your muscles have to work harder to maintain that.”
Tips for avoiding back pain
For those who work in front of screens all day, Jenkins recommends standing up often and stretching out the body to keep the joints “lubricated and active.”
It can help to use a standing desk, raise the computer monitor higher to promote an elevated chin and neck angle, or sit on an exercise ball instead of a desk chair, he advised.
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Even while sitting on the couch, Jenkins said it’s best to sit up, avoid slouching and change positions every so often.
It can help to use a standing desk, raise the computer monitor higher to promote an elevated chin and neck angle, or sit on an exercise ball instead of a desk chair, the expert advised. (iStock)
Isolating and flexing the back and ab muscles can also help to promote healthy muscles and ward off back pain.
“Find ways to be more mindful during the day of engaging your core,” Jenkins advised. “While you’re sitting there, squeeze your abdominal and back muscles together.”
ASK A DOCTOR: ‘HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY POSTURE?’
“Even if you don’t do a formal sit-up, if you just spend five minutes mindfully squeezing your core while you’re working, that’s better than not doing anything at all.”
Maintaining flexibility, especially with age, can also help prevent back pain.
Jenkins recommends committing to a fitness routine that “speaks to your issues” while strengthening the core and stretching the muscles, like yoga or Pilates.
The doctor recommends committing to a fitness routine that “speaks to your issues” while strengthening the core and stretching the muscles, like yoga or Pilates. (iStock)
Jenkins also warned people to avoid “BLT” — or bending, lifting and twisting all at once, which is a major contributor to back pain.
“You should always try to break up your bending, lifting and twisting into individual components … You should never bend, lift and twist at the same time,” he instructed.
“When you lift, engage your core actively. Think about squeezing your core while you’re lifting anything.”
man having his spine examined at doctor’s office (iStock)
A new study out of Italy, published in the journal Healthcare, found that a kinesiology-based method can be effective in treating lower back pain.
Noting that lower back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide, the researchers introduced the Canali Postural Method (CPM) to a group of individuals for three months.
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CPM, which is a personal kinesiological therapy to reprogram posture, showed promise in improving motor control and quality of life, and suggested “potential benefits for other musculoskeletal issues,” the study found.
Although the international study only included 35 participants, Jenkins said the results speak to the effectiveness of a “very structured, posture-based exercise regimen.”
adult woman with back pain at work (iStock)
“It’s pretty straightforward that more support is better,” he said.
“Kinesiology, chiropractic or just general physical therapy, or Pilates, or yoga – any of these interventions are likely to provide more support for the person’s back, and better pain relief than them trying to figure it out for themselves.”
When to see a doctor
Jenkins recommends seeing a professional if back pain persists and prevents engagement in normal activities.
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It is also best to seek medical attention if the pain does not subside after trying exercise, therapy or anti-inflammatory medications.
Any emergent signs that surface – such as severe pain, worsened balance, or impaired bladder or bowel function – should be addressed immediately by a doctor, according to Jenkins.
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One woman’s uncomfortable reaction to alcohol led to a grave discovery.
Hollie Thursby, 28, a mother of two from the U.K., told Kennedy News and Media that after giving birth to her second son, Jack, she began experiencing unusual symptoms.
At a checkup for her son, who was a couple of months old, Thursby mentioned that she was experiencing “unbearably itchy skin,” which is known to be a post-partum symptom. The doctor suggested it was due to changing hormones.
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Thursby added that she occasionally drank a couple glasses of wine. Although she kept the drinking to a minimum, she described having “a lot of pain” down the side of her neck.
“Really quite painful and uncomfortable,” she said, according to the report.
A U.K. mom reported experiencing pain in her neck after drinking a glass or two of wine, which turned out to be one of the first signs that she had cancer. (Kennedy News and Media)
The mother also reported feeling extremely exhausted, which she assumed was due to caring for her children throughout the day.
“I also felt like when I got to bed that someone was sitting on my chest,” she shared.
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In July 2025, Thursby discovered a lump on the side of her neck that she described as “really quite big,” but wasn’t painful, Kennedy News and Media reported.
“It was hard, it didn’t move, but it was there,” she said. “When I turned my neck to the side, you could see it.”
Thursby reportedly began chemotherapy for Stage 2 Hodgkins lymphoma. (Kennedy News and Media)
Thursby’s symptoms turned out to be a form of blood cancer — Stage 2 Hodgkins lymphoma, which means it is in two or more lymph nodes, according to Cancer Research U.K.
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Common symptoms include swelling of the lymph nodes, heavy sweating, weight loss, itching, persistent cough or shortness of breath, high temperatures, and pain in the stomach or lymph nodes after drinking alcohol.
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“Pain when you drink alcohol is actually a known side effect of Hodgkin lymphoma,” she said, per the report. “It’s something about the acidity in the wine and not when you drink other alcohol.”
While alcohol-related pain in Hodgkins lymphoma patients has been “an accepted scientific consensus” since the 1950s, cases are rare, Healthline confirmed.
Hollie Thursby, 28, and her two sons are pictured above. The mother reported feeling extremely exhausted, which she assumed was due to caring for her children throughout the day. (Kennedy News and Media)
Thursby reportedly began chemotherapy in November, noting that the hardest part is not being able to care for her kids after losing her own mother to a blood disorder called myelodysplasia.
“I grew up without a mum, and it was horrendous. I can’t do that to the boys,” she told Kennedy News and Media. “We’re all devastated, but we all know now, and we’ve got a treatment plan, which is what we need.”
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“I’m just doing everything I can to get better for them. I keep telling myself this is only temporary, I just need to keep going.”
Anyone experiencing pain or other concerning symptoms after consuming alcohol should consult a doctor for guidance.
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Red light therapy has been shown to reduce brain inflammation, protecting people who experience head trauma from long-term health consequences, a University of Utah study has shown.
Brain damage from repeated impact over the years is known to cause cognitive symptoms, ranging from memory issues to full-blown dementia, particularly affecting soldiers and athletes.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive, degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head impacts rather than a single injury, according to Mayo Clinic.
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More than 100 former NFL football players have been posthumously diagnosed with CTE, according to the new study, which was published in the Journal of Neurotrauma.
Other research has shown that military personnel in active combat suffer from similar issues, as do first responders and veterans.
The treatment was administered three times a week for 20 minutes using specialized headsets and intranasal devices designed to penetrate the skull. (iStock)
In the new study, the researchers recruited 26 current football players to understand more about the impact of red-light therapy on brain injuries.
The participants received either red light therapy delivered by a light-emitting headset and a device that clips into the nose, or a placebo treatment with an identical device that doesn’t produce light. Players self-administered the therapy three times a week, 20 minutes each time, for 16 weeks.
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“My first reaction was, ‘There’s no way this can be real,’” said first author Hannah Lindsey, Ph.D., in the university press release. “That’s how striking it was.”
Specific wavelengths of light are believed to enter the brain and reduce molecules that trigger inflammation, potentially halting the path toward dementia and other cognitive conditions. (iStock)
Players using the placebo treatment experienced increased brain inflammation over the course of the season. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans taken at the end of the season showed significantly more signs of inflammation than at the beginning of the season, the study found.
For players who used red-light therapy during the season, their brain inflammation didn’t increase at all.
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Previous studies have shown that red light, if powerful enough, can penetrate the skull and reach the brain, where it may reduce inflammation-related molecules.
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“When we first started this project, I was extremely skeptical,” said Elisabeth Wilde, Ph.D., the senior author on the study. “But we’ve seen consistent results across multiple of our studies, so it’s starting to be quite compelling.”
Study limitations
The study was conducted using a small sample size, which led to different levels of inflammation in the treatment and control groups, the researchers acknowledged.
While the placebo group showed increased brain inflammation during the football season, those receiving red light therapy showed no increase in inflammatory markers. (iStock)
Future large randomized clinical trials will be “crucial to back up the results” in larger populations, they noted.
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“We’ve been trying to figure out how to make sports safer, so that our kids, friends and family can participate in sports safely for the long term while they’re involved in activities that give them happiness and joy,” Carrie Esopenko, Ph.D., second author of the study, said in the release.
“And this really feels like part of the hope for protecting the brain that we’ve been searching for.”
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The team plans to recruit 300 people with persistent symptoms from TBI or concussion for a randomized controlled trial in 2026, with a focus on first responders, veterans and active-duty service members.
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Drinking heavily and consistently over an adult’s lifetime could lead to a higher risk of colorectal cancer, according to a study published in the journal Cancer by the American Cancer Society (ACS).
The study analyzed 20 years of data from more than 88,000 U.S. adults to determine how long-term drinking impacted the risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC) or precancerous colorectal adenomas (polyps).
The participants reported their average weekly intake of beer, wine and liquor intake during four age periods — 18 to 24, 25 to 39, 40 to 54, and 55 and older.
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“Heavy drinkers” were identified as having more than 14 drinks per week and “moderate drinkers” had between seven and 14 drinks per week.
The observational research revealed that consistent heavy drinking over adulthood was linked to a higher risk of colorectal cancer, especially rectal cancer.
Researchers found a major association between colorectal cancer diagnosis and heavy lifetime drinking. (iStock)
Heavy lifetime drinking was associated with a 25% higher overall CRC risk and nearly double the risk of rectal cancer. Moderate lifetime drinking had a lower overall CRC risk.
Compared to light drinkers, the consistently heavy drinkers had about a 91% higher risk of CRC.
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For colorectal adenomas (precancerous polyps), higher current lifetime drinking did not show a strong pattern, although former drinkers showed a significantly lower risk of non-advanced adenoma compared to current light drinkers.
Out of the 88,092 participants, 1,679 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
Out of the 88,092 participants in the study, 1,679 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. (iStock)
The authors noted that the research was limited, as it was observational and not based on a clinical trial. It also hinged on self-reported alcohol use.
The findings suggest that consistently heavy alcohol intake and higher average lifetime consumption “may increase CRC risk, whereas cessation may lower adenoma risk,” the researchers stated. Associations “may differ by tumor site,” they added.
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The link between drinking alcohol and cancer is not a new discovery, according to health experts.
In a recent episode of the podcast “The Dr. Mark Hyman Show,” Dr. Mark Hyman, chief medical officer of Function Health in California, detailed how even moderate drinking can impact “nearly every organ system in the body,” due to metabolic stress, inflammation, impaired detoxification and its effect on hormones.
The link between drinking alcohol and cancer is not a new discovery, according to health experts. (iStock)
Drinking has been found to increase the risk of many cancers, metabolic dysfunction, gut microbiome disturbances and mitochondrial toxins, Hyman said.
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“Bottom line, alcohol taxes every major system in your body, especially your liver, your brain, your gut, your hormones,” he warned.
Reducing or eliminating alcohol can lower the risk of several cancers, according to medical experts. (Getty Images)
In a previous interview with Fox News Digital, Dr. Pinchieh Chiang, a clinician at Circle Medical in San Francisco, shared that taking a break from drinking alcohol for longer periods of time can “reshape health more profoundly.”
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“Over months to a year, we see sustained improvements in blood pressure, liver function and inflammation,” she said. “Those changes directly affect long-term heart disease and stroke risk.”
Chiang added, “Reducing or eliminating alcohol lowers the risk of several cancers, including breast and colorectal, over time.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to the study researchers for comment.
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