Have you ever stared down at your cell phone and then realized that your neck is starting to hurt? That's called cell phone neck, and yes, it’s a real thing. If you look at small devices for hours, you could easily start to develop neck pain, but what really is a cell phone neck? What kind of impact does it have on your spine? Is it serious? Let's take a look at cell phone neck and see what kind of damage those pesky little technical devices are really doing to your neck.
What is Cell Phone Neck?
Cell phone neck is the neck pain and strain that directly results from looking at your phone for too long. This is because you look down at your phone or other handheld electronics for long periods of time. These extended periods of time can put a strain on the back of your neck and cause unwanted neck pain. This neck pain can get worse over time, and as you continue to use small devices, it can progress into more painful conditions; thankfully, it's easy to catch early on.
Impact on Your Neck and Spine
You might not think the impact on your neck and spine could be all that bad; you just have to fix your posture for a few days, right? Wrong, cell phone neck can, over time, put a permanent strain on your neck and back, causing neck pain. There are some things you can do to ease the pain, but it’s still important to ensure that you are minimizing cell phone neck wherever you can. By minimizing staring down at an angle at your phone, you’re minimizing the stress placed on the back of your neck, helping you keep a great posture and minimize pain.
Recovering
Recovering from cell phone neck is pretty simple and easy. The first step is going to be using your devices at a different angle, one that's more aligned with how you normally would look at something, keeping your head as upright as possible instead of slouching. This stops you from using that slouched posture to look at your devices and stops the advancing of pain. If you still have pain, a medical massage or exercises like yoga may help you relieve your cell phone neck pain and help you finally rest easy again.
Cell phone neck isn’t usually a dangerous pain; it just happens when you are an avid user of smart devices. You can slouch and lean and angle yourself into a painful situation without knowing about the mistake you’ve made until you try to move. Don’t forget to take time to stretch and roll your head around your neck to relieve some of the stress built up there. If you have a case of cell phone neck and nothing you do is helping you relieve the pain feel free to reach out to us so we can help you get pain relief as fast as possible.