By Tami Peavy
We are all guilty of curling up in our bed, or on our couch, with our laptops to answer a few emails or do a quick search. Then before we know it, we have been hovering over our screen for a couple of hours. When we go to move, our neck and shoulders feel stiff or painful. We might even feel as if a nerve is pinched in our neck shooting pain into the shoulder.
This happens to us because of the head and body positions we use to view our laptop in bed or on that couch. Those positions cause us hold our heads in a forward leaning position, which in turn can put up to 40 pounds of extra pressure on our cervical spine and shoulders. All this extra weight of the head strains the posterior muscles of the neck and tighten the pec and chest muscles as the shoulders move forward to support the leaning head.
Good body and head positioning is key to making sure technology doesn’t age you before your time, or give you pain along the way. This video suggests one position of support and comfort at home that won’t result in pain.