Here we tell you what it is and how to cure it.
If you are reading this, congratulations! You may be heading for chronic neck pain. Why? You are looking at a screen while reading this.
More people than ever are suffering from? tech neck? ( Neck technology, or something), a term used to describe pain in the neck, directly attributed to the use of technology, according to the New York Post. If left unattended, tech neck can become a serious chronic pain problem or it can even permanently change your skeleton.
Fortunately, you don’t have to stop viewing screens forever to avoid unpleasant and painful skeletal changes. We asked an expert to share some simple exercises that you can easily add to your routine to combat the tension that technology puts on your neck.
Why does it give us? Tech neck?
? The body adapts to the stress and tension to which we subject it ,? says personal trainer Michael Post. ? We know, from a biological point of view, that holding a stretch for more than 20 minutes can cause that area to lose flexibility and extensibility.
According to Post, those long periods of time spent crouching watching the screen are slowly causing our necks to “get stuck”. in a more forward-leaning posture, because those tissues lose flexibility. This can cause a lot of pain.
Imagine it like this: If you put a garter on a bunch of pencils and leave it like that for a couple of years, the garter will dry out, become brittle and lose all its flexibility.
How to avoid it
The bad new? The ? Tech Neck ™ can eventually lead to serious and permanent neck complications. The good news? There is something we can all do, right now, to alleviate and even reverse symptoms.
Unless a structural change in the skeleton has already occurred, which is primarily the case with older adults, the patient should be able to avoid and change this poor posture,? I indicate Post. In other words, it is possible to train the neck to return to that beautiful upright position it had when you had no idea that cell phones were going to exist.
In addition to making an effort to take a break from the screens every 20 to 30 minutes, try adding these exercises to your routine. Post recommends doing 10 repetitions of each exercise at least once a day.
1 / Bend and bend
Exaggerate a stooped posture, turning your shoulders forward and leaning your neck forward. Then correct it further by turning your shoulders back and bringing your chin toward the ceiling.
2 / Shrugging the chin
Shrug your chin, like you’re trying to pull it back, to the middle of your neck. Slowly return to the starting position.
3 / Head lifts
Sit or stand facing forward with your shoulders back and down. Slowly raise your arms above your head, like you’re trying to touch the ceiling. Slowly return them to the starting position.
4 / Scapular retractions
Sit or stand facing forward with your shoulders back and down. If you let your shoulders go up, try to bring your shoulder blades together behind you, then relax the position.