Neck & Shoulder Pain From Looking Down At Your Phone (Text Neck)

The term text neck refers to tension in the neck and shoulder muscles from long periods looking down at a phone or laptop. It is not a disease — it is a repetitive load injury, and it can be reversed.

Why does looking down at a phone hurt the neck?

An adult head weighs about 5 kilograms when upright. Every degree it tilts forward adds leverage on the neck bones:

• 15 degrees forward — a load of about 12 kilograms
• 30 degrees forward — a load of about 18 kilograms
• 45 degrees forward — a load of about 22 kilograms
• 60 degrees forward — a load of about 27 kilograms

The muscles at the back of the neck and across the top of the shoulders hold that load. Held for four hours a day, those muscles never get to relax, and that continuous tension is what is felt as pain.

Why do the shoulders hurt too, not just the neck?

The trapezius muscle starts at the skull, runs through the neck, and spreads out across the shoulders and upper back. It is one continuous muscle. When its neck end tightens, the whole muscle tightens with it — so pain that starts in the neck spreads to the shoulders, and sometimes becomes a headache behind the eyes.

How do you massage your own neck and shoulders?

1. Sit upright. Pour a little warming massage oil into your palm and rub until warm.
2. Apply to the back of the neck, the sides of the neck and the tops of the shoulders.
3. Use your thumb and three fingers to squeeze the muscle between neck and shoulder — slowly, holding each squeeze for three seconds.
4. Repeat along the edge of the shoulder working outwards for three to five minutes each side.
5. Finish by tilting your ear towards your shoulder for 20 seconds each side.

Avoid squeezing the front of the neck and avoid jerking the head. The neck should never be "cracked" by yourself.

Three adjustments that stop the cause

1. Raise the screen, do not lower the head. Hold the phone higher. Put the laptop on a stand so the top of the screen is level with your eyes.
2. The 30-minute rule. Every 30 minutes, stop and look into the distance while tucking your chin back ten times.
3. Support your elbows. Shoulders hanging unsupported pull on the trapezius all day. An armrest removes that pull.

If your pain sits lower — in the waist rather than the shoulders — see waist pain after heavy work.

When should neck pain be seen by a doctor?

Get it examined if the neck pain comes with numbness or tingling running into the arm or fingers, weakness in the hand, a sudden severe headache, a fever with a stiff neck, or pain that started after an accident. These point to nerve pressure or another problem that massage does not treat.