Have you ever heard of a text neck? If you haven’t it’s one of those things that you have probably already experienced before but didn’t know it had a name attached to it.
A text neck by definition is a stiff and/or painful neck which develops from excessive or rather continuous mobile phone use.
It can be a source of great frustration as our lives often revolve around mobile phones whether that is using social media, texting colleagues, looking up the news or using another application.
The aim of this blog is to provide 4 simple tips on how to avoid the dreaded text neck and believe it or not, the answer isn’t to stay off your phone!
1 – Break down large chunks of mobile phone use into 15-20 minute intervals
Now I get that being engrossed in your phone can be a hard behaviour to change but having a small phone break every 15-20 minutes can make the world of difference for your neck. It can be as simple as setting a timer on your phone and when this timer expires, place your phone in your lap. Then, perform 10 gentle chin tucks (see below), feeling for a tolerable stretch in the back of your neck.
This short and simple exercise will help to loosen up your neck and decrease the chances of your neck muscles going into spasms. An alternative to this is just simply putting your phone in your pocket and going for a short walk around the block, office or home!
2 – Set yourself, especially your neck and shoulders, is a comfortable, supported position
We know that comfort is key for our body. If we sleep on a hard pillow at night we may occasionally wake up with a really stiff and neck, termed a ‘wry neck’. If we sit on a stool for extended periods as opposed to a supported desk chair, our back may get sore. What do both of these examples have in common? The muscles and joints of the neck aren’t being adequately supported! It is critical where possible to use soft pillows to support our neck and shoulders to reduce the demands being placed on the associated muscles. Other than using a pillow to support your head/neck, you may find benefit in resting your arms against your stomach when texting which will subsequently relax some of your neck muscles.
3 – Make the most of advancements in technology.
Siri and other voice assistants have been designed for mobile user ease by converting speech into words. Instead of spending 5 minutes sending a text or even a minute googling something, how about ask Siri to do it for you instead? This may be a great idea for when you are in dynamic situations without the access to things like pillows to support your neck e.g. when on a long walk, when you’re already feeling drained from a hard day’s work.
4 – Optimise the appearance of your phone.
No this isn’t about changing your case or giving it a clean … it’s about ensuring your font size and brightness is optimal for you! If the font size is too small or if the brightness is too dull, we have a tendency to move our head forwards and down towards our phone. In contrast, if the font size is too large or the screen is too bright, we want to move our phone and/or head away from each other which will either place our arms in a suboptimal position or our head backwards into a retracted position. We advise making sure your font size and brightness is sufficient for you to view your phone without extending your arms out away from your body. Try where possible to have your phone at or near eye level to avoid having to look downwards to use your phone.
Written by Sam Lancaster
myPhysioSA Payneham and Eastwood Physiotherapist with a special interest in neck pain management.
