As I drove my children home from a basketball game recently, I heard a tiny voice from the back seat of my car say, “Mommy, my neck hurts.” I realized that my 5-year-old son had been playing Minion Rush (Universal Studios) for about 20 minutes as we drove home.
As a physical therapist and sports clinical specialist at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, I thought to myself, “How sad is it that a 5-year-old has neck pain?”
Since that moment I have made a sincere effort to help my family, my friends and my patients decrease the negative effects of tech neck.
With today’s technology and frequent usage of laptop computers, tablets, cell phones, Leap Pads (LeapFrog), DS games, iPads and iPods, we may be setting an early pattern for lifelong neck pain. You know the position: head down, looking at your portable device or slumped over your laptop all day at work. Now imagine maintaining these positions for hours at a time. This position of poor posture can lead to neck pain, headaches, upper back and shoulder pain.
So what should you do?
If your neck pain is severe, or if it has lasted for more than a week disturbing your daily activities and possibly your sleep, make an appointment with your physician for an examination and consideration of a referral to a physical therapist.
If you are not experiencing pain and want to work at keeping your neck healthy, try these simple tips throughout your day to prevent tech neck:
- Bring cell phones, tablets, etc. up to eye level
- Look up every few minutes
- Sit up tall, keeping your ears in line with your shoulders
- Perform shoulder shrugs
- Lie down and relax (unwind)
Our daily work and recreational activities have driven use of new technologies, without consideration of the postural affects. Try to disconnect from technology at least five minutes each hour while at work and learn to set aside time away from technology in free time. There will be positive, long-term healthy dividends.
