As more of us are spending increasing amounts of time on our screens, tech
neck has become a common and familiar concern - the poor posture caused by
craning your head down to check your phone throughout the day.
But aside from posture, did you know that tech neck can change how your skin
looks? Dr. Rosemary Coleman, Consultant Dermatologist, says how more people
are presenting with saggy necks from spending too long on their phones.
"We're actually checking our phones on average around 80 times a day, and
that's the average person", she said.
Our heads weigh on average around 5kg and is designed to be balanced on top
of the spine. "When the head leans forward in the position you see everybody
in permanently nowadays, the force on the neck goes up to 27kg and that is
the equivalent to having a six-year-old child sitting on the back of your
neck."
Headaches, neck pain, back pain and more can all stem from this force being
added to the neck, which are often the issues that bring people to their
doctors complaining of tech neck.
When it comes to cosmetic issues, however, Coleman said that doctors are
seeing "an extentuation of the horizontal lines" across the neck, which are
called Venus lines, and at a younger age.
She added that some people are more likely to develop horizontal or vertical
lines on their neck than others, particularly if they have a long neck. Neck
skin, she said, is much thinner and more delicate than the skin on other
parts of the body, so protecting the skin there is one way to treat tech
neck.
"Use what you use on your face on your neck", adding that hydration is a key
step in this process. She suggested using SPF on the neck and chest to stop
it getting prematurely thinner.
Adding antioxidants like vitamin C or retinol can help, though she cautioned
that "the neck won't always tolerate very heavy, greasy creams that the face
might like, so it is trial and error".
Ultimately, however, she said that these horizontal lines cannot be removed
as they are an "anatomical structure".
There are more invasive procedures, such as micro dots of Botox along the
lines, that can be done to improve the appearance of the lines, but Coleman
stressed that such procedures would have to be done very carefully by a
trained professional as the neck is a delicate part of the body with
important functions like swallowing and breathing.
"You can't fill the horizontal lines in the neck because you'd just end up
with a roll like a snake. There's no real volume loss, it's just crepe-y and
a thin crease", she said, but pointed to laser therapy, microneedling and
more if such lines became upsetting for the person.
Perhaps more feasible, however, is trying to change the habit of looking
down at your phone, Coleman said. "Pay attention to your seating in the
office and all the dynamics there."
RTÉ LifeStyle.
