We’re slowly turning into hunchbacks…
Look around in your workplace, the bus, train or in a coffee shop, and you’ll see a familiar sight of someone sitting with their shoulders hunched forward, neck straining at an uncomfortable angle, squinting down at a screen.
It’s a relatively new problem, and it’s called “text/tech neck”, with more and more people complaining of neck pain and “text/tech neck” can lead to some considerable medical problems if left untreated.
“I have started seeing lots of cases over the past two years, especially in young schoolchildren and teenagers,” Dr James Carter told Daily Mail Australia.
“The condition is called ‘text neck’ because it is often caused when people sit with their heads dropped forward looking at their devices for several hours at a time.
“Instead of a normal forward curve, patients can be seen to have a backwards curve. It can be degenerative, often causing head, neck, shoulder and back pain.
“Many patients come in complaining they have a headache, but we actually find text neck is the cause of it. They often fail a simple heel-to-toe test and tend to fall over.”
Maintaining an active lifestyle is important to counteracting these effects and doing exercises such as yoga and pilates can be extremely helpful.
But there’s some exercises you can do on a daily basis which should help eliminate neck pain caused from excessive technology as reported by the New York Post.
“All of these exercises can be done in a chair or standing in front of your computer screen,” says Roland Rodriguez, a physical therapist at Atlantic Physical Therapy Center in Toms River, New Jersey.
Chin glide
“It’s the exact counter to the tech-neck symptoms of rounded shoulders and a forward neck,” said Rodriguez.
Video via motivationaldoc
Upper trapezius stretch
“This stretches out the shoulder muscles that contract when you’re on a mouse or looking at a computer screen,” he said.
Video via SDARC Wellness
Pectoral stretch
“The pecs and shoulders get really tight with tech neck, so this goes in the opposite direction and stretches and extends the lumbar spine,” said Rodriguez.
Video via [BackSpace] Chiropractic Fitness TV
Scapular retraction with external rotation
“With typical tech-neck posture, the shoulder blades round and separate from each other. This pulls them back together,” said Rodriguez.
Video via WebRehabNow
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