At work or in our free time, we're constantly using computers and/or electronic devices. But if we're not careful, all that time can lead to physical injury.
KERA's Sam Baker talks about "tech-neck" with Dr. Ioannis Avramis, an orthopedic spine surgeon on the medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center.
Dr. Avramis: Essentially, anytime we're looking down and flexing our neck forward, that can cause problems in terms of our alignment as well as pain and muscle issues, and that's what we commonly refer to as tech neck.
Baker: Does this directly stem from how you handle the device or simply spending too much time on it?
A combination of both, right? And so, when we talk about ergonomics, it's the alignment of our neck while we're using our devices.
And so, if we had an upright alignment, we would really mitigate a lot of the problems that we associate with tech neck.
So, if you're lifting the phone and holding it at eye level, if you were looking forward, that would be great for your neck. But obviously, that's very uncomfortable, and you can only do that for so long. And with laptops, that's impossible to do because we typically have it on our lap or on our desk, and we're typing. But then that puts the screen down below us, and we're having to look down.
But like you said, it's also a function of time. If we're doing it in short stents with our neck, not in a great position, it's not going to cause that many problems, but if we're looking down for extended periods of time, hours on end, then it can really cause a lot of problems.
How serious an injury can this become?
It's very rare, but there are instances where some of the ligaments can be stretched out. We can see them turn into bone and calcify, as we say, and that just indicates a chronic injury to those ligaments. That's again uncommon, but it can be pretty significant.
We also worry about that deformity, with the neck being flexed forward, becoming more of a fixed or rigid deformity. And that can lead to something called sagittal imbalance, which can be a very disabling condition.
Is tech-neck something you can take care of on your own, or is there a certain point at which you need to seek a medical professional?
Most of the treatment is something that we can do on our own at home. Putting down your phone and going for a walk, or calling somebody and having a direct voice communication with them, or meeting with them in person and having coffee or having lunch and looking up at them will help prevent tech neck.
Decreasing time on the devices can help prevent it.
Physical activity - going for a walk, going to the gym - all of these things will get us off our devices, get our neck in a more normal position, and help strengthen our core muscles.
Pilates and yoga are the two number one things I recommend for any issue with the back, and they can help a lot with strengthening.
But when the condition becomes severe and you're beginning to have a rigid deformity of the neck or you start to have pain and numbness going down into the hands and arms, that's usually an indication of a need for deep medical care.
Haven't we been warned about this before? I seem to recall that years ago, we were getting instructions on the best way to sit at a desktop computer. Were we just not getting the message?
You're exactly right. You know, this condition started and did not have the name of "tech neck" back then, but it started when we were on our desktops and laptops, and things that were helpful back then and are still helpful now are having the sit-to-stand desks, where we can bring that monitor up to our eye level. It's all about working on our ergonomics if we're going to be in one position for a long time.
With the transition from traditional desktops to tablets, laptops, and specifically our phones, it's only worsened our condition, because not only can we be on our laptops at work, but we can be on our phones at home, we can curl up in a couch in a bad position on our phone with the TV going and paying attention to our phone and really get our neck into a bad positions.
So yes, it's not a new condition or a new concern, but it seemed to be exacerbated by the increased time that we spend on our phones.
RESOURCES:
Tech-neck is real: 7 smart ways to prevent or treat it
'Tech neck': Technology's effect on your neck
How to Prevent Tech Neck and Promote Better Posture
Time Spent Using Smartphones (2025 Statistics)
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