Do You Have Tech Neck, or Nerd Neck? How to Fix Forward Head Posture

Nerd neck. Tech neck. Computer neck. Text neck. Forward head posture.

You might not be familiar with these terms, but you almost certainly know what they describe. Picture someone sitting on a bus or park bench looking at their phone. See in your mind’s eye how their head juts forward of their shoulders and droops down? That’s forward head posture.

Before we were all sheltering at home, you couldn’t go out without seeing it everywhere. In coffee shops, restaurants, public transportation, even walking down the street, person after person hunched over their device. That’s not a natural posture for humans, and it’s taking a toll on our collective health.

Nerd neck, tech neck, text neck, and computer neck are interchangeable terms that denote the pain and other symptoms that come from spending too much time in this position. It’s not clear exactly how prevalent it is, but a quick survey of my friends revealed that every single one had experienced neck, shoulder, or back pain that they attributed to spending too much time on their devices. When the Pew Research Center polled American adults last year, 28% said they’re online “almost constantly.” Various surveys estimate the average person spends 3 to 5 hours a day just on their phones. This doesn’t count hours in front of a computer, watching TV, or playing video games. Teens’ and college students’ usage is considerably higher.

All this is to say, tech neck is undoubtedly widespread. I’d bet it’s become even more prevalent in the past few months as people are spending more time at home with their devices.

The good news is that it’s not terribly hard to correct and prevent. A few simple changes, plus easy daily exercises, and you’ll be standing tall once more.

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What Causes Tech Neck?

Many modern activities cause you to pull your head forward and/or look down:

• Using cell phones, desktops, laptops, and tablets
• Reading
• Driving
• Cycling
• Playing video games

Your head weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 12 pounds (4.5 to 5.5 kg). Your spine is designed to hold that weight balanced and centered above your shoulders. As you jut your head forward and down, the load on your cervical spine (the vertebrae in your neck) increases. Every inch of forward head posture places an additional 10 pounds of force on the spine.¹ When you look down at a 45-degree angle, your head exerts around 50 pounds of pressure on your cervical spine.

To compensate for the added weight, the muscles in your neck tighten, putting more pressure on the discs between your vertebrae. Eventually, they can bulge or rupture, and then you have much bigger problems.

Forward head posture also pulls your shoulders up and forward, rounding your shoulders and upper back. This leads to upper crossed syndrome, a condition that a doctor or physiotherapist can diagnose. With UCS, you end up with tight pectorals, suboccipitals, upper traps, and levator scapulae; and weak rhomboids, middle/lower traps, and neck flexors.