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If Your Smartphone is Giving You Neck and Shoulder Pain – This Expert’s Tips are Here to Help

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How to Relieve Neck Pain Caused by Using Smartphones — Raise your hand if your neck hurts. Interesting. Now, raise your hands if you've noticed that your neck hurts more after using your smartphone. Interesting, very interesting. It looks like we are all victims of what is now known as "text neck".

According to Ahmad Inam, a physiotherapist at Medcare Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation Centre, text neck is a phenomenon caused as a result of poor posture when using your smartphone. Inam elaborates that it is this poor posture, more specifically the "forward head" position, that causes the tension and muscle pain that many of us experience after using our phones for prolonged periods.

"When your head is in the forward position, it increases the load and chronic stress exerted on the muscles located at the back of your neck. The constant exertion of these neck muscles is a common cause of neck pain and muscle tension," Inam explains.

If not corrected, the pain could spread to your shoulders, upper back, arms, and, can, in some cases, cause headaches. It can even trigger the feeling of weakness, numbness, and tingling in your arms.

What Is the Correct Posture to Have When Using Your Smartphone?
When you're using your smartphone, try to avoid bending your neck forward. Instead, Inam suggest that you should raise your phone to your eye level. Your elbow should be supported by your chair, keeping your shoulders inline with your ears. Your shoulders should also be retracted and downwards, to prevent what is known as "rounding of the shoulders".
Should your job require you to take long phone calls, Inam suggests enlisting the use of hands-free device, as well as making use of your smartphone's speaker. Doing so will significantly reduce the amount of chronic stress and muscle exertion on your neck.
Exercises to Reduce Text Neck
Starting your day with stretches that target your neck, shoulder, and back muscles will help prevent the strain placed on your back and spine which, in the long run, will help to prevent musculoskeletal and nerve injuries.
A few exercises to try include:

Chin tucks
Neck side bend and rotation
Shoulder rolls forward and backwards
Corner stretch
Chair rotation
Cat and cow stretch
Seated heart opener

If you feel that you're short on time, Inam explains that doing at least a few of the listed exercises once every few hours will help to reduce the pressure and strain exerted on your neck and spine muscles.
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