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Medicine

Staring At Screens Could Strain Cervical Spine, Cause 'Tech Neck' (upi.com) 46

Posted by EditorDavid from the get-back dept.
HealthDay reports: If you spend hours a day scrolling on your smartphone or tablet, you might get "tech neck."

"Humans are upright creatures, and our bodies aren't designed to look down for long periods of time, which puts extra pressure on the cervical spine," said Dr. Kavita Trivedi, associate medical director of the Spine Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Americans spend about five hours a day on their cellphones and more on laptops and computers, Trivedi noted in a university news release. As a result, people can experience muscle stiffness, joint inflammation, pinched nerves, arthritis, and even bone spurs or herniated discs. ...

"The good news is that most patients with tech neck don't require surgery, and we have a wide range of therapies that can be very effective," Trivedi said. "There's no need to live with pain if it can be treated."

Protect yourself from future neck pain by holding your phone at eye level as much as possible, she advised.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for submitting the article.
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Staring At Screens Could Strain Cervical Spine, Cause 'Tech Neck' More

Staring At Screens Could Strain Cervical Spine, Cause 'Tech Neck'

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  • Gen-Z problem (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Sunday February 19, 2023 @12:48PM (#63306029)

    I am a boomer. I started with a 25-line green phosphor CRT. When I finally could afford a 15" monitor with graphics, I leaped at the opportunity. Then I moved on to 17", 19", 21", and then to flat screens, bigger and bigger.

    Today, I have a 55" 4K TV as my monitor. I can lay out six full-sized PDFs on the screen. Or I can have my editor, debugger, docs, and unit-under-test all on the screen simultaneously, with no overlap. So I am finally at peace with my monitor.

    Meanwhile, my Gen-Z co-workers hunch over a 5" screen, using it for the same tasks that I use my 4K monitor with 100 times the area. WHY??

    • They're not looking at debuggers, unit tests, or 6 PDFs.

      The only time I've seen people hunched over phones at any kind of technical job was when doing field work with no tools/facilities (nowhere to set down a laptop). Even there, the people who'd worked more than a few days had bought themselves a laptop stand.

    • I'm somewhat younger than a boomer (though the kids call everyone over 40 a boomer), and only have 43" monitor, but have thought the same thing. One thing I'll give them is that their eyesight is better, and they could probably cram a few more things into that 5" screen than me. But if we are to believe the media, most of them would think themselves tragically overworked by the kind of productivity that is possible with proper equipment. To be fair, I know of older folks who also like to "work from phone

    • How's it a gen-z problem? We've gone from stacking monitors on top of the computer to bigger monitors to smaller monitors to laptops, and all but the biggest monitors should be on a stand. It's not like this is just a tablet problem. Big doesn't even mean it's at the right height, and having a bunch of screen real estate isn't ergonomic if you're leaning at your desk looking sideways half the day at a remote part of your workspace.

    • Yeah you're right, I have a younger coworker who works off a tiny 13" laptop at a "standing desk." Can't imagine how that is comfortable or productive, and the posture can't be good either. Maybe they think the 13" screen is huge compared to a phone, I don't know either...

    • Currently I'm using a 43" 4K monitor, and although I love it, there's one thing where the huge size isn't useful: terminals. They're basically the one thing where extreme vertical space isn't that useful. The most important output is almost always at the bottom, because that's where the prompt is.

      For other stuff, browsers, IDE, mail, chat clients etc, it's incredible.

    • Meanwhile, my Gen-Z co-workers hunch over a 5" screen, using it for the same tasks that I use my 4K monitor with 100 times the area. WHY??

      Massive addiction-related psychosis. I'm not a boomer, but close enough -- to us computers are tools and toys.

      To Gen-Z, the phone is a surrogate parent and best friend rolled into one. Pecking at the rectangle takes on an atavistic role reminiscent of chickens hunting for insects or perhaps primates grooming each other for lice.

      To Gen-Z the real world exists within the Magic Rectangle, and so no amount of discomfort or actual pain matters because the phone junkies must have their fix.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by alw53 ( 702722 )
      Or if you drive a car built after 2009. https://www.yogaback.com/new-c... [yogaback.com]

  • Don't worry (Score:3)

    by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Sunday February 19, 2023 @12:49PM (#63306033)

    When they plow into [youtube.com] another vehicle [youtube.com] or run into [youtube.com] something [youtube.com] because they were looking down at their phone, any neck pain they might have will go away.

  • book neck (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Vomitgod ( 6659552 ) on Sunday February 19, 2023 @12:54PM (#63306047)

    but...reading a book is OK?

    • I had a bit of a chuckle there.

    • You're joking? Try reading a book in your lap for eight hours.

      • That's less of a problem for Americans, given how few actually read books.

        https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/21/who-doesnt-read-books-in-america/

        "Roughly a quarter of American adults (23%) say they haven't read a book in whole or in part in the past year, whether in print, electronic or audio form, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 25-Feb. 8, 2021."

        • If they're anything like me, they may not read books but they still do a lot of reading, particularly of technical documents.

        • Roughly a quarter of American adults (23%) say they haven't read a book in whole or in part in the past year

          I started out ready to disagree with this. I just thought they were reading on their phones and didn't realize it was a "book". Then I thought about how should we define a book?

          Technical book? It normally has chapters, data organized by subject or features, etc. I guess 23% might not need that type of book if they are doing the same thing day in and day out.

          Recreational reading? A non-technical book would normally have characters, real or fictional, with some sort of plot and development. Here I would

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by khchung ( 462899 )

      but...reading a book is OK?

      Or studying while sitting in front of a desk.

      In fact, in times not long past, sitting upright in front of a desk while looking downward at a book or what one is writing on, was supposed to be the "correct" posture. The downward bend on the neck in such pose is not that different from how one look at the phone nowadays.

    • Yes a book is OK because no one who reads a printed book holds the same static posture position for hours at a time like computer users do.

      When reading a book you can change how you lean, you can roll from one side to the other, stick another pillow under your head for more support, roll onto your stomach, lay on your back with the book on your belly and put your feet on the wall, etc, etc. The text on a printed book can be read at an angle of almost 180 degrees so your not limited to the narrow viewing ang

    • Cue the cluelessness from just another Dunning-Kreuger slashdotter

      Readers of physical books dynamically adjust and move them as well as shift position unconsciously. This is why they handily outperform readers who use screens. But please 'vomitgod' go back to vomiting your bullshit at the world

  • Just follow standard ergonomic guidelines and you'll be fine. People usually make the mistake of keeping their monitors too low to the desk for aesthetics, and/or slouching in their chairs.
    • This. It is not something new, though I have not heard the term "tech neck" before.
      Someone selling a solution to this "problem" perhaps?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Dusanyu ( 675778 )
        I don't know it seems to be popping up in Academic Journals lately https://medicopublication.com/... [medicopublication.com] https://scholarworks.wmich.edu... [wmich.edu]

      • This. It is not something new, though I have not heard the term "tech neck" before.
        Someone selling a solution to this "problem" perhaps?

        It's not new so it isn't a problem? Carpal tunnel syndrome isn't new, we still have to continually raise awareness because people ignore the signs. The solutions are so simple, correct your posture, a mouse that's slightly angled, better chair, monitor/laptop stand, external keyboard, proper keyboard height, etc.

        Don't act like poor ergonomics isn't a problem, you just said it isn't new.

        • Carpal tunnel syndrome isn't new....

          The warnings about Carpal Tunnel have always baffled me. I completely ignore ergonomics because they frequently hurt more than the behavior they're supposed to solve.

          In particular, ergonomics say to elevate your wrists when typing to avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The few times I tried to do so, it was so incredibly uncomfortable that I started developing muscle cramps on the top of my wrist. The cure was to be unergonomic. Then there's the whole split-keyboard absurdity, which hopes to avoid CTS by keeping

          • The ergonomics make sense when you have carpel tunnel syndrome flairing up.

            I’ve found that the best prevention is simply stretching your wrists 2 or 3 times a day though. People will always spend money vs having to do anything regularly.

          • That's a YMMV situation. Many people have their wrists arched the wrong way, with the wrist sitting on the table and the hand arched up because their keyboard is at a too-steep angle. Elevating the wrists will solve this.
            Split keyboards saved my hands. On a straight keyboard, your hands are not in a straight line wrt your forearms, they're angled out, again putting strain on the wrist and all of the stuff running through it. A split keyboard fixes this.
            In general, ergonomic advice is what allowed me to keep

    • Re:ergo (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Big Hairy Gorilla ( 9839972 ) on Sunday February 19, 2023 @01:54PM (#63306171)
      Laptops are obviously bad for this. The screen is attached to the keyboard, so in all cases, either the screen is in a bad position to view while the hands have good access to the keyboard, or the screen is in a good position for your neck but now the keyboard is an awkward stretch for the arms.
      • Many people hold the phone against their stomach to steady it and take strain off the arm when standing or walking so they are essentially staring at their crotch all day, which is a much steeper angle for the neck than looking at a laptop while sitting.
      • I'm surprised laptops don't come with a dumb warning sticker like all keyboards -- "Warning! Using a keyboard or mouse may be linked to serious injuries or disorders!"

        Using a tiny laptop with a terrible keyboard can't be good either. Maybe it's a case of the user being the wrong shape for her device.

    • Just follow standard ergonomic guidelines

      Most people don't.

      So how do you raise awareness?

  • Something that works with eyeglasses or contact lenses is the mid-term future. You are already seeing this now, but it won't be ready for the masses for another 10-20 years.

    In 50+ years from now, brain-implant or transmit-directly-to-the-brain interfaces will be the norm. It's already being researched to give sight to the blind and routinely implanted to give hearing to the deaf. There are way too many technical and social issues that will need to be fixed before I'm ready to replace my laptop/tablet/sma

  • That makes my shoulders hurt. Stupid gravity ruins everything. My favorite imaginary tech solution for this is the Rotom Phone from Pokemon where your smartphone gets possessed by a ghost that makes it float in mid air at eye level. I would probably prefer something larger like an iMac though while Iâ(TM)m dreaming, with something ergonomic like the Switch controllers to interface with it.
  • So once upon a time RSI got trendy and everyone had it.

    Then that fad faded, and now the healthcare industry are trying to push a new problem that, they hope, everyone will get ?

    Not sure it'll work - thanks to woke, people have too many other things to claim they're a victim of.

  • You have to be lying down from the get-go.

  • I am 45 and I have programmed computers since I was six.

    I never had a problem with my neck or back until last year, and since I have had two cases of debilitating pain that took two months to recover from- so that is four months of not being able to work, not being able to use computers for longer than a few minutes at a time.

    During my first episode I dramatically improved my ergonomics under the guidance of my physical therapist. I still had a second episode about 9 months later.

    This is NOT anything you w

    • I never had a problem with my neck or back until last year....

      Is there any reason to suspect your computer use? I never had debilitating neck or back pain until I hit my forties. I woke up one morning and couldn't move my neck more than about 25 degrees in either direction off center. It lasted about a week before it started subsiding on its own. A couple years removed from that, I had similar pain in my back, with similar movement issues. In both cases, I chalked it up to muscle spasms or nerve injury in my sleep.

      • Your guess and doctors are as good as mine! I dont know because I have also been using phones for 15 years. My PT says that it is just accumulated damage over time- certain spinal parts got weakened over a long period of time of bad habits.

        I do not understand it so I cant really say.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tomkost ( 944194 )
      Pretty much the same, but I don't think computers are the real issue. It's phones. Unless you hold your phone up high, you're going to stare down. If you hold it up high, your arms and hands are going to fatigue... No win scenario.
  • I thought that looking moderately downward was the best position for your neck. Hence the advice to keep the top of your screen at eye level. (I don't quite follow that: my screens are all in portrait orientation and the top of each display is slightly above my eyes, but for most of the screen area I'm looking level or downwards.) I guess there's a sweet spot where you are looking downwards, but not too far down?
  • How is this different from bicycle face?

  • You know, once upon a time they had these things called books.
    People would spend hours at a time just looking down staring at them.
    There all cripples now.

  • I'd worry more about the hand/arms. That twisting the arm outwards, lifting them and faffing with thumbs is going to hurt.

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