5 Ways to Prevent Texting Neck

Text neck is an overuse or repetitive use of the neck muscles and has become far too prevalent with the widespread use of mobile devices.  When your head moves even 1” forward, you increase the weight on your neck by 100% from 10-12lbs to 27lbs.  This can cause inflammation and pain in the overstretched muscles and ligaments of the neck, leading to chronic neck pain.

Five (5) ways to prevent text neck are outlined below:

1.       Raise the phone to eye level keeping your head level.

2.       Take frequent breaks.  Try not to spend more than 5-10 minutes at a time on any handheld device.

3.       Stand with your shoulders straight by slightly pulling your shoulder blades toward each other.  Practice this by doing “snow angels” in the air.

4.       Use a laptop or desktop for longer usage time.

5.       Exercise to keep your spine flexible.