Tech Neck: Is your smartphone ruining your appearance?
updated the 6 October 2015 à 22:53
Turns out all that time you spend staring down at your phone is giving you drooping jowls and saggy skin.
A quick glimpse around you will reveal many people who are tethered to their phones, shoulders hunched forward, neck straining uncomfortably at a 45 degree angle and eyes squinting at a bright screen as their thumbs furiously jab away at the touch screen.
It’s a posture that has come to be associated with the tech generation and now, it looks like this favoured pose is not without its health consequences, the main ramification being ‘tech neck’.
WHAT IS IT?
Tech neck, a term coined by American chiropractor, Dean Fishman, is what happens when you have your head hung forward and down looking at your mobile device for extended periods of time. This causes an overuse syndrome or a repetitive stress injury in your neck area.
SYMPTOMS
Prolonged periods spent hunched in an unnatural posture can lead to tightness across the shoulders, muscle pain, soreness in the neck and chronic headaches. Repeatedly bending your neck to look at your phone can over time, cause a specific crease just above the collar bone that is similar to wrinkles and sagging skin. Medical research has also uncovered evidence of related early onset arthritis and decreased lung capacity due to bad posture.
SOLUTION
Take frequent breaks and look up from the screen every 10 minutes or so to bring your neck back to its natural position.
Alternatively, bring your smartphone up to eye level so that it’s aligned within your sight and you won’t strain your neck muscles to view it.
Embrace posture-focused exercises like yoga, Pilates and Bar Method which will help you achieve better posture and alert you to be more aware of the way you use your mobile device.
If all else fails, there is actually a Text Neck app for Android created by Dr Fishman which offers immediate feedback about your posture, indicated by a green or red light. The app will also track your slouching or standing pattern and offer an average score on the health of your neck. As long as it doesn’t drop below the healthy 85%, you’re on safe ground!
Karen George
