It was just the other day. I was at The Go Red for Women Cincinnati Experience. It's a fun event that is dedicated to raising funds and awareness for women's heart health. There was breakfast, motivational speakers and lots and lots of pictures. I had a great time, and then the pictures came back. Two words—TECH NECK!
Well, at least that's what it looked like. I'm not standing up straight in any of my photos and you can see a hunched-over look in almost all of them. From now on, I am going to work on standing up straight, but in the meantime, I wanted to check in with Jared Crasto, MD, a spine surgeon with The Christ Hospital Joint & Spine Physicians, to learn more about tech neck.
What is tech neck?
We all know that it's not great to be sitting at a computer all day or hunched over our phones. The neck pain and muscle fatigue that comes from doing this all day, every day is called “tech neck."
Dr. Crasto said tech neck is neck muscle strain caused by looking down at phones or computers for long periods of time. When looking at a computer screen, you tend to adopt a “forward head" posture, extending the upper neck and flexing the lower neck to move your eyes closer to the screen.
When looking at phones, we tend to flex our necks completely forward, nearing chin on chest, essentially. Both put your neck in inefficient positions, where the normal length and tension relationship of your muscles and ligaments is disrupted, leading to pain and fatigue.
The typical adult head weighs 10-12 pounds, but when you bend it forward at a 45-degree angle, the amount of force it exerts on your neck increases to nearly 50 pounds!
Symptoms of tech neck include tension headaches, neck muscular pain and fatigue, jaw pain or temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and sometimes numbness/tingling down the arms.
Kids: Create good habits early
I feel like we live in a world where everyone is on their computer all day, every day. Even our kids. Dr. Crasto said, “Americans spend about 5.5 hours per day on their mobile devices or computer screens. More people are working from home now as well, with much less ergonomic setups than the typical office."
However, when it comes to our kids, he said that we don't really need to worry as much. He said, “Kids' musculoskeletal system is a bit more resilient than the adult. While it may not affect them as much right now, they are creating habits to last a lifetime."
Adults: Work on better habits
So, how do we create better habits for ourselves and our children? Dr. Crasto suggested, “Holding your phone at eye level can help tremendously for your neck—though it may make your shoulders and arms more tired as a result. Positioning your computer monitor or laptop at a natural horizontal eye level can help. Using a standing desk to change positions throughout the day, or taking a break to walk around every hour or two is also useful."
I'm going to start doing these things today, and I'm also going to incorporate a quick 3 – 5 minute walk and stretch to my work routine each hour. When I got the pictures back from my event, I went online and searched “tech neck" to see if there was anything I could do to help correct my posture. I found a neck and shoulder relaxer and asked Dr. Crasto if these types of devices help or if they were a waste of money. He said, “Anything that helps to increase stretching, mobility throughout the day, or get you off your device is probably a step in the right direction!" WIN!
When to contact a doctor
If you find that your tech neck pain won't go away, or nothing is helping, it might be time to contact a doctor. Dr. Crasto said, “If the pain becomes severe—unmanageable with medications—there is numbness/tingling or weakness in the arms, those are good times in which to see a spine specialist for your concerns."
Don't let spine or neck pain disrupt your life! To make an appointment with a spine specialist, call 513-557-4900 or click here to schedule an appointment online.