Text neck is a syndrome which we have self-inflicted, simply due to the way we hold our media devices, in particular, the Smartphone. Sufferers of this new-age condition experience more than just neck pain as it would seem. The condition can be attributed to shoulder pain, headaches, decreased range of motion (ROM) in rotation, and overall tension through their upper back and neck. Your head weighs roughly 4-6kg in total and by leaning your head forward to look at your smart phone you increase the load placed on your neck by up to 6x. Putting pressure on your discs and straining the muscles that hold your head up.
With that being said, here are 5 SIMPLE adjustments you can make TODAY that will prevent you from ending up with text neck and keep you upright and scrolling.
1. Lift that phone a little higher
Head flexion of up to 60 degrees (chin almost touching your chest) can add close to 30kg of sustained weight on your neck. Obviously the straighter the neck the better the better it is, but an improvement of just 15 degrees extension (lifting the head up) can take as much as 20Kg of sustained weight off your neck. So whenever you catch your chin resting on the top of your chest, lift the phone up.
2. Keep those shoulders back
Keeping the shoulders back will help hold the scapulars (shoulder blades) back also. The scapular acts as an attachment site for your rotator cuff muscle group, however, it also anchors muscles to the thoracic spine and neck. It’s that simple. Keeping those shoulders back will allow for those muscles to sit in their correct position and not strain due to the over stretching of forwardly rolled shoulders.
3. Let your elbows do the work and your head will follow
The second you let your elbows and hands drop away from your sides your head will follow. Keep those elbows tight against your sides with elbows bent at 45 degrees to limit excessive head flexion.
4. Implement neck strengthening exercises to your daily routine
The deep neck flexors (DNF - muscle on the front of the neck) are vital to stabilising and supporting the head and often become weak or inhibited with sustained forward head posture. In fact, weakness in these muscles has been shown to make individuals more prone to neck pain. So what can you do? Chin tucks!
- Sit up straight with shoulders held back
- Place your finger at your chin
- Pull chin backwards to give yourself a ‘double chin’
- Hold for 1-2 seconds
- Then return your chin to your finger (try not to jut your chin excessively)
- Repeat for 10 repetitions and 3 sets total
- Repeat 3x a day
5. Call more, Text less
You may have 1000+ friends on Facebook but how many are genuine? Gone are the days of calling someone for their birthday, better yet we can sum up what we want to say in a few emojis. This simple act will have you strengthen your neck and your relationships together :)
Our Smartphones are here to stay and not leaving us anytime soon, so to tell you not to use your devices as much doesn't really deal with the root cause.It is up to you to become more aware of your body and the strain you are causing from holding these prolonged ‘texting’ postures. So keep those shoulders back, head and eyes up, take deep breaths and avoid the long term effects of looking down at your phone.
Adios,
Angelo Campanella :)