LEXINGTON, Ky. — If you spend hours a day looking at a computer, tablet or phone, you’re not alone. But that daily habit may be quietly contributing to neck pain, headaches and even dizziness — it is a pattern neurologists are seeing more often, sometimes nicknamed “tech neck.”
When you tilt your head forward to look at a screen, the weight of your head on your neck increases significantly. Over time, that added strain stresses the muscles, joints, and discs in the neck and upper spine. As your muscles are working harder to keep your head up, they tighten and can trigger tension headaches and worsen migraine attacks.
In severe cases, bad neck posture can cause nerve pain that goes into the shoulders or arms. It can also lead to stiffness, tingling or a feeling of pressure at the base of the skull. Many patients are surprised to learn their headaches are not coming from the head itself, but from the neck…