Reversing a Tech Neck in the Age of Zoom

When it comes to pain in your spine, the lower back gets all the attention. But the top of your spine – your neck- is equally vulnerable to pain. It is especially important to be aware of this as we spend more time repeatedly bending our heads to look at our cellphones or other digital media devices, a habit which causes tech neck.
In our modern world, tech neck was already a burgeoning phenomenon—but in the age of lockdown, where many have made the transition to work-from-home and are holding meetings virtually, it's taken on a new life.
”For every 10 degrees your head is leaning forward from a neutral position, the perceived weight of the head by the nervous system increases about 10 pounds,” explains Renee Crickmore, a physical therapist and clinic director of Pursue Physical Therapy. “The muscles need to counteract this weight by contracting to hold your head up. This can place a great deal of strain on the muscles, ligaments, joints, and intervertebral discs in the neck, which can lead to tension headaches, migraines, jaw pain, and tightness in the mid-back and upper traps."
Fortunately, there are stretches you can do to safely align your body and help counterbalance the muscle strain. In addition to performing manual therapy based (hands on) treatments to relieve his patients’ neck pain, Jonathan Mayes, a physical therapist at Pursue, created a Home Exercise Program (HEP) to help his patients maintain their neck pain relief at home.

“These exercises should feel good – like you are stretching and strengthening. If you are feeling discomfort or pain, then you need to stop,” warns Jonathan. “If these exercises are causing you pain, there may be something more inflammatory going on that needs to be properly addressed by a physician.”
“What happens initially is that the muscles have to strain to hold your head up. As the muscles tighten they put more pressure on the cervical discs, causing them to bulge or even rupture” explains Dr. Kuznits, a spinal neurosurgeon and the founder of Neurosurgical Care. “If a ruptured disc pinches a nerve, it can cause pain, weakness, or numbness in the arm, which may require surgical treatment.”