You’re reading this with your neck craned forward. That posture, common among phone and computer users, has a name: tech neck. Experts say it’s a growing problem, but they also have practical ways to avoid it.
American adults spend an average of five to six hours a day on their phones. That’s hours of poor posture. Add in time spent staring at computer screens at work, and the conditions are ripe for discomfort.
Tech neck is mild to moderate neck pain caused by constantly leaning forward to look at screens. When you tilt your head forward, your neck and shoulder muscles have to work to keep your head from dropping. Hold that position long enough, and pain sets in.
“Tech neck is not an official diagnosis, but we are definitely seeing it in the clinic. I call it neck tightness or postural concerns,” says Cassidy Foley Davelaar, a sports medicine physician at Emory University. “I haven’t quite diagnosed it as tech neck yet, but it is probably coming.”
What happens to your body when you hunch over a screen
Severe neck pain usually comes from trauma like car accidents. But tech neck can become disabling over time.
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It starts with trouble concentrating, headaches, and lost work time. Eventually, the pressure of hunching forward can affect the spine and the nerves in your neck and back.
“The further your head comes forward, the more the muscles of the neck contract to keep the head from dropping off the body. Basically, that’s why we get fatigue,” says Peter Sprague, an orthopaedic clinical specialist and assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at Emory.
An average head weighs about 12 pounds at rest. When you lean forward, gravity increases that effective weight by three times.
People who hold that position often may feel numbness in the upper body. In severe cases, balance and muscle activity throughout the body can be affected.
The real irony is that the muscles doing all the work — the back muscles of the neck — are overused, while the front muscles, called the deep flexor muscles, stay relaxed. Research links cervical pain to weak deep flexor muscles. These muscles act like seatbelts, holding each vertebra in place.
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“If they are weaker, one has a higher risk of developing cervical spine pain. If someone has this type of pain already, improving the strength of these muscles will likely resolve the pain,” Sprague says.
Simple exercises to fight tech neck
“Squat, kneel, or lie down on your side or stomach to promote neuromusculoskeletal health while using your phone.”
Chin tuck: Bring your chin slightly down toward your chest to create a double chin. You should feel a stretch in the front of your neck. Hold for 2-3 seconds, then release. Don’t pop your head forward.
Open book exercise: A way to improve mobility in the upper back, where we get stiff while hunching forward, and to stretch your thoracic spine and pectoral muscles. Lie down on your side with your knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Put both arms out in front of you with your pal.