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Health experts warn of Tech Neck and offer 10 helpful tips on alleviating pain
Health experts warn of Tech Neck impacting millions of people worldwide, but what can you do to help alleviate the pain?
A 2019 study found a strong link between the amount of time that people spend looking down at their phones and the severity of their neck and shoulder pain. Whilst that shouldnt necessarily be a surprise, spending too much time staring down at your electronics can have painful impacts on your physical health, with millions of young Americans potentially suffering from something called Tech Neck.
What is Tech Neck and what are the symptoms?
Tech Neck (also known as text neck) refers to the pain, soreness, stiffness, and even injury that can be sustained by bending your head down for too long to look at electronics such as laptops and mobile phones.
Dr Andrew Bang, a chiropractor from Ohio, explained how when you drop your head to watch the next viral TikTok (or read the latest article from The Focus), your neck moves forward, your shoulders become rounded forward, and the muscles in your upper body contract in order to hold the heads weight.
Think of your head like a bowling ball – as the ball moves forward, or its flexing away from your shoulders, it gets heavier, Dr Bang states.
Unfortunately, with more people spending longer each day on their phones and laptops, painful cases are sadly becoming more and more common especially as you often dont feel the pain response from poor posture until its too late.
When youre doing the action of looking down, thats not when you feel the pain. In fact, youre usually so engrossed in what youre looking at that you dont even feel the symptoms until later on. And unfortunately, its kind of a cumulative effect.
Aside from pain and soreness, symptoms of Tech Neck can include headaches; tension in the upper back and shoulders; pain and soreness of the jaw joints and muscles; tingling, numbness, or weakness in the hands; and Rotator cuff tendonitis.
Dr Steven Knauf, the president of a chiropractic clinic in Arizona even went as far as to state that prolonged or severe Tech Neck could also lead to your spine losing its natural curve. This can, in turn, lead to painful posture problems later in life – so what can you do from home to help alleviate the pain?
10 expert-approved tips on helping Tech Neck pain and soreness
Thankfully, modern chiropractors are incredibly adept when it comes to emerging technology-related injuries, with Dr Knauf offering 10 helpful tips on how to alleviate Tech Neck issues:
- Chin Tucks: Sit/stand with your spine straight and draw your head back as if you were making a double chin while parallel to the floor. Hold for five seconds, release, and repeat.
- Hand to Ear stretch: Place your hand flat to the side of your head and tilt your head to your shoulder while pushing against it with your hand. Hold for five seconds, release slowly, and repeat.
- Hand to forehead stretch: Place both hands on your forehead keeping your chin parallel to the floor, and push your head forward while also pushing your head back with your hands. Hold for five seconds, and repeat.
- Cobra stretch: Lie on your stomach, lift your head and upper chest off the ground with as minimal support from your hands as possible. Hold for 15-30 seconds.
- Superman stretch: Lie on your stomach, lift alternative arms and legs (e.g. left arm/right leg, right arm/left leg). Hold for a few seconds, lower, and repeat.
- Routinely check your posture: Try to notice when your posture has slumped throughout the day, being conscious of your posture when you might otherwise be distracted.
- Use standing desks: Continuous small movements are easier with standing desks and allow for a more aligned posture throughout the day.
- Take regular breaks: Get up and go for a short walk around a room every hour, stretch a little and roll your neck.
- Rolling your shoulders: Roll your shoulders back and forth as you shift your head back.
- Limit screen time: Wherever possible, put your phone down and close the laptop case; the less screen time, the better.
Whilst half of these tips are related to specific stretches that can aid in alleviating neck and shoulder pain, Knauf notes that if your symptoms worsen during stretches, you should stop and see a licensed doctor. Pain isnt normal and you should never ignore it for prolonged periods of time without consultation from a professional.
