One of the biggest modern conditions is how we spend hours hunched over our hand-held devices (mobile phones or otherwise) every day. And as a result of this poor posture that we hold for protracted periods of time, many of us suffer from “text neck”–compression and tightness in the muscles in our neck and shoulders.
The good news is, “text neck” can be easily fixed with some conscientiousness and regular stretching.
“You should adopt a neutral neck position when using a hand-held device. The device should also be held at visual height, and you should take a break every 15-20 minutes. Doing neck and shoulder exercises will also be helpful to prevent neck pain,” says Dr Dinesh Shree Kumar, a senior Consultant and director of Spine Surgery at Changi General Hospital. Here are three exercises you can do at home.
Counter all that downward-looking by pulling your head back and looking up. Hold the position for a couple of seconds to stretch out the area.
This common yoga posture helps to open up the anterior chest wall and shoulders, all of which are often rounded when we hunch over our devices.