With the increase in use and advancement of mobile technology (including smart phones, tablets and laptop computers) people of all ages are starting to report more and more the increase in symptoms such as headaches, neck pain, arm pain and shoulder blade pain. Does this sound like you?
If so, then you may need to take a notice of how much time you are spending on your mobile devices throughout the day. Holding your head in prolonged flexed positions puts increased strain on the muscles, joints and discs in the neck. It can also cause the muscles at the front of you neck to become shortened. This can lead to the above-mentioned symptoms
Here are some tips to help you reduce the amount of strain on your neck
- take a break from using your phone or tablet
- when using a laptop at work, set it up like a desktop so that your screen is at eye level and you have a wireless keyboard and mouse
- increase you levels of physical exercise before and after work
- get a prescribed home program of stretched and strengthening exercises for your postural neck muscles
- start a Pilates program to help improve the strength of your postural muscles
- when using your mobile device make sure you hold the screen at eye level rather than looking down at it
This was written by Nick Lagos
