What is Text Neck?

We ve all been glued to our phone, tablet or other device.   The pain associated to prolonged use is nicknames “text neck”.  It is a modern day overuse term resulting from prolonged watching or texting on your cell phone, tablet, or other device with your head in a flexed and downward position.  This causes increased tension in the deep muscles of your neck and shoulders.  It is a cause for concern, especially with children given their greater tendency to smart phone use. Aside from neck pain, it can also cause shoulder pain, upper back pain and headaches.

This posture of flexing the neck down does not only occur with texting.  We have adopted this posture for years with reading.  The problem is that we are texting more often and for longer periods of time.

Your head weighs 10-12 lbs, however when you hunch over the pressure increases significantly.  In normal posture, as seen on the left, your ears are signed up with your shoulders.   If you move your head forward by one inch, the weight of your head increases dramatically. Flexing your neck 60 degrees can make your head feel like it weighs 60 lbs.  If you spend 2-4 hours hunched over on your phone a day, that leads to 700-1400 hours a year!

Signs and Symptoms of Text Neck

The most common presentation of text neck is neck pain or soreness.  you may also experience

  • Stiffness:  After maintaining the neck in one position you may develop neck stiffness
  • Pain: Pain can be localized to one spot or more diffuse through the neck, shoulders and even down the back
  • Headache:
  • Radiating pain: Pain can radiate in the shoulders, arms, hands and fingers
  • Muscular weakness:  Muscle can become weak in the shoulders, arms and back because of a lack of strength or pain.

Additionally, you may see

  • Flattening of the mid back
  • Arthritic changes
  • Disc compression
  • Muscle weakness
  • Decreased lung capacity

Text Neck Stretches

  • Tilt your head up
  • lean to each side slowly until you feel a stretch
  • Squeeze your shoulder blades together
  • Push your head forward and back against resistance

For more advanced text neck stretches click here

To Avoid Text Neck

Prevention is the best way to avoid text neck

  • Don’t crane your neck down
  • Look down with your eyes instead of your neck
  • Bring your device up to eye level to reduced stress on your head, neck and arms
  • Take breaks
  • Move your neck regularly, especially rotating and bending to the side
  • Don’t hold heavy objects, especially for long periods of time

If you struggle to find relief, contact your North York chiropractor for posture retraining.