Computer Neck Syndrome: Dangers, Effects, and Prevention Tips

This leads to a development called “computer neck syndrome” (or “text-neck” in English) in many people. What are the dangers of this syndrome and how you can deal with its effects, we will consider in our article.

When working at a computer or watching the news on their phone, many people sit with their body leaning forward and their head moving forward. This position is often referred to as the “smartphone position”. Why? All you have to do is take public transport a couple of times and you will understand everything yourself. It looks something like this:

As a result of prolonged pressure on the cervical spine, a person feels weakness in the muscles of the middle back, neck, shoulders, pectoral muscles and restriction of the muscles of the upper back. All these physiological disturbances are symptoms of the “text neck syndrome”. It has a negative effect on a person’s posture, often leading to bending and curvature of the spine, as well as sagging neck skin and, as a result, the appearance of a double chin.

This is because our body quickly gets used to the position it is in most of the time. Therefore, if a person looks at a smartphone screen for several hours a day, while stretching his head forward, there will be an imbalance in the muscles of the neck and shoulders. This phenomenon is called the medical term “head forward post”.

On average, the weight of an adult’s head is about 5 kg, but in an inclined position, the load on the neck can increase by 3, 5, or even more times!

Just imagine: when you put your head down to upload another photo to Instagram, an invisible 8-year-old child weighing 27 kg sits on your neck! Let’s look at this with an example:

Often people today hold their heads just as shown in the last picture, which is extremely dangerous for health. Experts have found that such people develop hypermobility of the mid-cervical spine, migraines and headaches, pain in the back and neck are more common.

Signs

To find out if you have the syndrome described above, pay attention to the following symptoms: vision problems; pain in the back of the head; more frequent headaches; neck pain and muscle stiffness; back and shoulder pain; discomfort when you “just” the back; We are sure that most of you will experience these symptoms in yourself. And this is not surprising, because, according to Dr. Kenneth Hansraj, MD, this problem has existed for a long time.

How to sit at the computer correctly

To avoid these unpleasant effects, first you need to organize your workplace properly. To do this: place the monitor directly in front of you, but not too low; To avoid leaning towards the screen, use the function to expand text or images; sit until your back is at an angle of 100-135° relative to your legs. In this way you will significantly reduce the load on the spine; position the keyboard so that your neck and shoulders are completely relaxed while you type; your knees should be in a straight line with your hips; don’t sit with your legs crossed, one leg bent under you, etc. Your feet should be on the floor next to each other.

Yes, we know it’s very difficult to follow all these rules and it doesn’t always work out. Therefore, to avoid the development of this syndrome, you can also resort to preventive measures.

Prevention

Prevention of “text neck” syndrome means daily exercise, as well as occasional refusal to use various tools, for example, on weekends.

If you do not have time for regular physical activity and walks, just spend a minute or two a day for these simple exercises: bending your head to the sides, while it is better to avoid circular rotation on your head; turning the head to the sides, 5-10 times; bending to the shoulder (don’t lift the shoulder itself!). Try to touch him with your cheek while you put your hand on his ear. Stay in this position for 30 seconds and switch to the other side. Repeat several times; put your bent hands behind your head and, gently standing against your head, press the back of your head until the neck muscles stretch;

Elementary exercises to warm up the arms and shoulder girdle, such as “scissors” and “arm thrusts,” also help.

In addition, for prevention purposes, you can do eye exercises, and 2-3 times a week – exercises to strengthen the muscles of the neck and back.

Regular massage of the back and neck area will help relieve muscle tension and improve blood flow. A special inflatable neck traction collar will also help, but you should use it wisely, starting by wearing it for five minutes twice a day. Remember – text neck is just a bad habit. Get used to working correctly, it’s easy and will save you from many problems in the future.