Smart phone giving you a pain in the neck? Do these four quick exercises to prevent tech neck

Tech Neck is on the rise, and it is only going to get worse as we spend more and more time looking down at our phones and tablets.

Steven Berkman, a Chartered Physiotherapist, of London'sBoost Physiohas developed a four stepTech-Neckexercise programme to combat pain and injury caused by looking down at your phone.

We are looking down at our phones for up to four hours a day and physiotherapists are warning that if you look down by 30 degrees the pressure on your neck increases by 4 times, putting an unnecessary load of up to 50lbs onto your neck that can cause head pain, neck pain, arm pain and numbness.

"Our normal standing position is facing forward, when you drop your chin down to check your phone you are stretching your spine out of alignment. If you keep doing repeatedly then you're a creating potential problems and pain that you may not realise is related to the way you use your phone".

"We developed the "tech neck" exercise programme in response to the growing number of patients who were coming to us with neck problems directly caused by looking down at their phones. The exercises are easy to do and don't take much time. They can be downloaded from thewebsiteand if you do them on a regular basis they will make a difference".

A recent study by a group of spinal surgeons in the US found that looking down at a smartphone such as an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy over a period of time, that these additional stresses on the neck could lead to quicker wear and tear of the cervical spine (neck).

How to avoid tech neck

Our top tips are:

Hold your phone upwards towards eye-level

Keep your shoulder blades down

Take regular breaks from your phone

Keep your chin tucked in gently

Use "voice recognition" to dictate emails and texts holding the phone in front of you

Use a headset for phone calls

Download our tech neck exercise programmewww.boostphysio.com/tech-neck

Ends

www.boostphysio.com

For further information please contact: Caroline Ratnercaroline@carolinecomms.com020 8209 0120

About Boost Physio

Boost Physio is one of London's leading physiotherapy practices. With four clinics in North London, at East Finchley, Hendon, Hampstead and one at the Virgin Active Gym in Cricklewood, Boost Physio physiotherapists helps clients with a wide range of physical issues.

The Boost Physio team are all Chartered Physiotherapists who are also trained in our unique Boost Physio method of physiotherapy.

Boost Physio works with many of London's leading surgeons and doctors and the practice is recognised by all major health insurers.