37.9, phone grayscale & rotator cuff

37.9, phone grayscale & rotator cuff

Did you know that switching a smartphone to a monochromatic (grayscale) can reduce your daily screen time?

This small change strips away the vibrant visual rewards that trigger dopamine-driven habits.

Videos, pictures, and captions are the main drivers here.

In fact, a 2020 study by Holte and Ferraro found that college students who switched their phones to grayscale reduced their total daily screen time by an average of 37.9 minutes.

In modern orthopedics, the number 37.9 also comes up.

In a 2012 study mapping shoulder degeneration, researchers isolated patients presenting with chronic rotator cuff tendinitis — specifically the supraspinatus muscle.

The painful shoulder group exhibited a mean critical shoulder angle (CSA) of exactly 37.9 degrees.

For reference, a health angle is between 30 and 40 degrees.

When someone has an elevated CSA, it means their acromion – a tip of the shoulder bone – extends significantly farther out to the side.

This slight anatomical shift completely alters the direction of muscle forces around the joint and makes the supraspinatus have to work harder.

A muscle working too hard for general tasks is not efficient – especially over years of the aging process.

A muscle working harder over time can lead to chronic irritation, tendinitis and potentially a full tear.

Some of us are just born with this variation so you can thank your genetic lineage. The good news, there are two ways to help it:

A surgery to remove about 5mm of the outer edge of the bone – this is called an acromioplasty.

Optimizing the quality of the supraspinatus muscle to be able to adapt to demands from a genetic structural fault so it can minimize degenerative changes.

We like option #2

That is why the supraspinatus muscle is 1 of our 6 Green Zones.

Longevity. Healthspan. Prevention.

If this is something that can make your life better, feel free to contact us at 919-728-0335 or schedule online to get you back on track!