Warning issued over ‘Tech Neck’ and why it’s so bad for your health

Health experts have warned people about the dangers of developing 'Tech Neck', a posture problem that comes from spending all day sitting at a desk on the computer or looking down at your phone.

We can appreciate the irony here, this is being written by someone sitting at a desk with a computer and you're probably reading it on your phone.

It turns out that spending all of the day doing that is maybe not the best idea as far as health is concerned as all that looking down is taking a toll on our necks.

According to Everyday Health, spending too many of your waking hours looking down at a screen can cause all sorts of health issues.

Chiropractor Steven Knauf warned that 'Tech Neck' could cause headaches and a feeling of tingling or numbness in your hands along with pain in your neck, shoulders and upper back.

Getty Stock Photo

He also warned that too much looking down at screens could even wind up robbing your spine of some of its natural curve.

Symptoms will vary between people but the longer you spend craning your neck to look down at a phone the more likely you were to have bad things happen.

A study found a connection between neck pain and the amount of time people spent on their phone.

Expert advice on this one extends to cutting down the amount of time you're using these devices and paying more attention to your sitting position, if you're slouched over and letting your head droop down you might want to do something about that.

Over time this could become an even bigger problem as your posture affects your muscles and compounds the problem.

Getty Stock Photo

This isn't the first time using phones has been accused of having an actual physical impact on the way our bodies work.

A past study suggested that phone use was changing the shape of our skulls due to us looking down at screens all the time as tendons and tissue adapts to the posture we hold ourselves in.

If you are going to attend to pain in your neck then please don't be like the guy who decided to chiropract himself and triggered a stroke that robbed him of his vision.

Pain is the biggest sign that 'Tech Neck' is taking a toll on your body, and experts said people might feel a bending of the spine at the base of their neck.

Topics: Health, Technology

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker