If your shoulders, head and neck are tense, there might be an unlikely culprit: your phone.
“When we’re using our cellphones, tablets or even our laptops, we tend to bring our neck down towards that device,” says Jared Brown, PT I, DPT, CEAS at Sharp HealthCare. “When I maintain that flexed-forward position, I actually end up putting 60 pounds of force through my cervical spine, just based off the human head and gravity alone.”
With time, this position can affect your spine. It can also shorten and weaken neck muscles, making them unable to support your head, Brown explains.
In general, don’t look down. Instead, bring your device to you. This puts your neck in a much more neutral position. Try these moves to strengthen your deep neck flexors, which are in the back of your neck.
Exercises to avoid text neck
Before getting started, check with your doctor or physical therapist to make sure they’re right for you.
What you’ll need: A firm, sturdy surface to lie down and kneel on.
Qué esperar: Hold each position for about five seconds. Do 2-3 sets of each exercise with 10-15 reps to help strengthen your neck flexors, Brown recommends.
Start here and move on the other two exercises.
- Lie on your back.
- Roll up a towel and place it under your head.
- Imagine having a string tied onto the back of your head. As the string gets pulled downward, retract your chin over the top of your shoulders.
- Hold this position for five seconds.
Chin tuck with lift
This exercise builds on the chin tuck.
- Start in the same position as the chin tuck, with the towel under your head.
- While retracting your chin, gently lift your head off of the towel and hold the tucked position for five seconds.
Quadruped chin tuck
You’ll work against gravity in this exercise, which makes it slightly harder to continue retracting your chin.
- Kneel with your knees under your hips and your hands under your shoulders.
- Retract your chin and hold this position for five seconds.
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