Ever hear the phrase, "Keep your head down"?
It's meant as an admonishment to stay out of trouble and to avoid jumping into the fray. But while that may be perfectly good advice for your emotional wellbeing, it's actually terrible advice on a literal level.
Many of us look down at smartphones throughout the day, some for hours — and this head position is damaging our spines. The human head weighs about a dozen pounds, according to a 2014 story in the Washington Post, and when the neck bends forward and down, it adds weight to the cervical spine.
When bent at a 60-degree angle (looking down), the added weight is about 60 pounds, the article notes – kind of like carrying a second-grader around your neck.
The result? Text neck. The catchy name refers to a variety of ailments arising from this poor posture, including neck pain, shoulder pain, headaches, upper back pain, and more.
Experts recommend adjusting the position at which we view our screens, whether it's holding our phones higher or using our eyes more often to look down rather than bending our necks. Take frequent breaks.
You can combat text neck with a number of stretches and strengthening exercises designed to keep your head in alignment and strengthen the muscles that hold it up and in the proper position. These include anything from turning your head to the left and to the right, chin tucks, or a multitude of yoga poses like downward-facing dog or cat-cow (on all fours, alternating between straightening and rounding the spine).