In keeping with National Chiropractic Health Month’s goal of helping others be active and adaptive, this week we’re offering some insight on seated posture and how to avoid “Tech Neck.”

Tech Neck is a muscle strain that is becoming more and more prevalent as technology advances, allowing us to do more tasks on smaller equipment. While the prevalence is growing due to electronic devices, it’s important to note that this type of neck strain can also be effected by analog activities like reading a book or reviewing paperwork if we do not have proper posture.

Our posture while seated can contribute to Tech Neck, but also comes into play when we’re driving, on public transit, at a spectator event, or in a classroom. Because we do so much sitting in our modern life, it’s important to know how to mitigate the effects of sitting that can cause wear on the body over time.

Here are some tips for improving your sitting posture:

Sit up tall as though you have a string at the top of your head being pulled towards the ceiling. Your ears should align right over your shoulders.
Broaden your collar bones away from each other and let the shoulder blades slide down the back.
When possible, rest your arms with your palms up toward the ceiling to help open up your chest muscles and externally rotate the arms.
If you’re reading or using a mobile device, raise your arms so you can look straight ahead, not down to see the screen/reading material. Or use a stand/pillow/pile of books to lift the item to eye level!
Avoid using mobile devices while in bright sunlight. Straining to see the screen leads to jutting the chin forward, shifting work from the spine to the muscles that hold up the head.

Common culprits of poor sitting posture include your workspace ergonomics. Check out our blog post on ergonomics to assess how you can improve your work space (especially if you’re working from home) and decrease pain!

Please ask any of our providers at Equilibrium for help and expansion on the above tips!