How to Eliminate “Text Neck” or Forward Head Posture.
Have you been experiencing upper back and neck pain? Our increasing dependence on screens makes life more convenient, but also a little less comfortable.
Forward Head Posture, sometimes called “Text Neck”, is an increasingly common problem not only in adults but also in teens and some children.
What is Text Neck?
If you spend your waking hours sitting, standing or walking while looking at a screen, including a phone or mobile device screen, you might be at risk of acquiring Text Neck. Symptoms of Forward Head Posture include:
- The upper back is hunched and leaning forward
- The shoulders are rounded into shoulder protraction.
- The head protrudes forward, away from the torso (The head will either be craned up unnaturally to look forward or hanging, chin on chest to look down at a phone).
Is Text Neck a Serious Problem?
This postural problem causes an increased amount of pressure on your spine. Like the arched limbs of a bow, the more dramatically the arch is bent, the more pressure being exerted on the bow, or in this case, your spine. That pressure manifests itself in the postural change, but also in back and neck pain and headaches, and progressively worse health problems.
How to Correct Text Neck
Forward Head Posture is basically caused when the muscles in the front of the neck become tighter than the muscles in the back of your neck. To correct this you’ll need to:
- Strengthen the weakened deep cervical flexors around the front of your spine
- Relax and lengthen the overactive sternocleidomastoid, anterior scalene, and suboccipital muscles that run from the back of the head around near the collarbone.
At Moore Physical Therapy, we can assess the severity of your strained muscles and create a routine to help you loosen and lengthen the muscles that are pulling your head forward as well as tighten and strengthen the muscles that can hold your head in its natural, neutral position. Learning how to live and work while keeping your head in balance will not only relieve your neck pain, but it will also have a cascading effect down through your shoulders to your core, your hips and even your knees, making life in general a lot more comfortable for you.
Click here to set up an in-house 15 minute Free Answers Consult™ to address your specific physical needs and goals. Or discuss with your Doctor and request that he write you a referral for physical therapy, and then call us to schedule your treatments.
