Text neck is a new term coined to describe neck pain that is brought on by looking down at your smartphone or tablet. The term was created by health care professionals in reference to the forward head posture we assume when we bend our heads down, and it's becoming incredibly common.
There is a lot of debate about whether smartphones are really bad for our health. Whether you agree or not, you can't deny that text neck is an issue because you probably have it. In more serious cases, it can lead to the neck being completely out of alignment and constantly pushed forward. Looking after your neck and back is important, so you need to take steps to fix it. Here's how you can fix text neck.
Do Daily Stretches
Studies have shown that regularly doing neck exercises can reduce the chance of text neck. You should try to stretch out your shoulders and back regularly as well because this will keep everything in good working order. Yoga is great for loosening up the muscles in the neck and back, so consider doing five to ten minutes each morning. You can also try these basic neck stretches throughout the day.
Change The Way You Hold Your Phone
One of the main causes of text neck is looking at your phone with bad posture. You want to keep the screen around eye level when you're standing, sitting, or laying down. This way, you won't have to tilt your head forward too much when using it. Eliminating looking down will help reduce pain and make life easier for you in general!
Seek Professional Advice
If you have text neck, you should see a specialist about it so they can diagnose the issue for sure. Discuss your pain level with chiropractors and they can give you advice on how to fix text neck. You can cause long-term damage if you don't address this problem. So, if the pain is severe and you notice that your spine and neck are seriously misaligned, you should seek professional advice right away. In most cases, they will give you stretches and exercises to help you straighten things out, and then give you advice to prevent the problem in the future. However, surgery may be required for serious musculoskeletal problems.
Use Your Phone Less
The most obvious way to prevent text neck is to use your phone less. If you can go a day or two without using it, your neck will thank you. The problem with this idea is that most people have a smartphone these days and use them constantly throughout the day. You don't need to swear your smartphone off completely, just try to avoid endlessly scrolling on social media for no reason. If you are really struggling to go more than half an hour without looking at your phone, consider whether you might have a problem with smartphone addiction.
Text neck is only a very recent health problem, but it's a serious one that needs to be tackled before it causes wider problems with your spine and neck.
