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How to Fix Screen-Induced Back, Neck and Hand Pain
Today’s technologies can cause some old-fashioned aches. Here’s how to stop them, including 15 exercises to try
Back pain, tech neck and wrist pain are three common ailments wrought by modern technology. Here’s how to fix them.
Illustration by Kyle Hilton (Alamy Photos)
Key takeaways
- Looking down at phones and laptops for long periods can contribute to neck, shoulder and upper back discomfort.
- Repetitive smartphone use may aggravate hand and wrist pain.
- Health professionals recommend adding simple movements such as torso twists and standing calf raises throughout the day.
Modern technology is designed to keep us feeling comfortable. But even the most ingeniously designed gadgets can make our bodies cranky, especially if we spend too much time with them. If you’ve ever woken up with an odd pain in your back, hands or arms, there’s a good chance that modern technology could be playing a role. Here’s how to find the source — and some simple adjustments to keep your tech usage comfortable and pain-free.
The symptom: Lower back pain
Potential culprit: Your desk chair
Roughly half of American adults 60 and older complain of lower back pain.
Back pain that lingers for 30 days or more means you should see a doctor to rule out any serious issues. But for many of us, that angry lumbar is driven by something simple: the way we sit. If you spend much of your day wedded to a desk chair or driver’s seat, how you sit is going to make an impact on how your back feels at the end of the day. And if you’re like most people, you’re doing it all wrong, says Toronto-based chiropractor Michael Takes.
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Here’s the problem: We were told as kids to “sit up straight.” For many of us, that meant sitting in the middle of a chair or even close to the edge, with our feet firmly on the floor, back straight, head up. But that’s an unnatural position, and our muscles just aren’t strong enough to hold us up in that way for very long. Inevitably, we begin to slouch: Our lower back relaxes and curves back as our shoulders curve forward. Instead of pointing down, the tailbone curls under and points toward the front of our seat. That stretches the spine and stresses the lower back muscles. Meanwhile, your hamstrings — the muscles running down the back of your thighs — are shortened. “That’s why a lot of people with lower back pain also have tight hamstrings,” says Takes. And tight hamstrings can tug on the hip bones, creating additional stress. The result is lower back pain that stretches across the beltline and below it, Takes explains.
How to fix it: Instead of trying to “sit up,” push your buttocks to the very back of your chair so you’re wedged right up against the chairback and your pelvis is in a neutral 90-degree position. This facilitates proper spinal alignment and eliminates unnatural stress on your tailbone and back.
The symptom: Upper back, neck and shoulder pain
Potential culprit: Your cellphone or computer
“Tech neck” is the term doctors use for the neck, shoulder and upper back stiffness caused by tilting your head down to look at a device for a long time.
“Leaning into screens most of the day affects the muscles that support the neck, and pulls the neck forward,” says Dr. Jennifer O’Connell, a physiatrist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. While it isn’t an official medical term, tech neck is becoming a common ailment. Gen X Americans spend an average of 4 hours and 48 minutes per day on the phone; boomers spend 4 hours and 19 minutes per day, according to a 2025 survey from Harmony Healthcare IT.
The average adult head weighs 10 to 12 pounds. Bending it forward at a 45-degree angle to look at a device can load about 49 pounds of stress on the neck muscles, leading to fatigue, stiffness, headaches or even numbness or tingling in the arms and shoulders from pinched nerves. The same effect can occur if you regularly work on a laptop computer, which typically sits lower than the desktops of old.
How to fix it: It’s easy enough to say, “Look at your phone less,” but it’s hard to do: In the same 2025 survey, 51 percent of Gen Xers and 35 percent of boomers reported wanting to cut down their phone use.
If you just can’t stay off your phone, try using it in a way that causes less pain: Lift it in front of your face rather than keeping it down below your chin. As for laptops:
- Position your screen 20 to 30 inches away from your eyes.
- Use a computer monitor or laptop stand to raise the screen to eye level (a stack of books will also work).
- Keep your wrists straight and elbows at about a 90-degree angle.
- Keep your knees in line with your hips and your feet flat on the floor.
If the issue persists, consult a physical therapist, O’Connell advises.
The symptom: Hand or wrist pain
Potential culprit: Your smartphone
If you notice soreness or stiffness in your palm or wrist, especially near your thumb, there’s a good chance you’ve been doomscrolling too much. “I see a lot of overuse-related hand injuries from the repetitive activities that cause muscle and tendon stress and joint strains,” says Dr. Ariel Williams, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation at the Yale School of Medicine. “They can cause tendinitis and aggravate conditions like arthritis from your hand being in the same position for a prolonged period of time.”
Commonly known as “text claw,” “smartphone thumb” or “phone hand,” these aches and pains result from stretching and overtaxing the tendons. Trigger finger is also common; it’s caused by inflammation or thickening of the sheath around a tendon that causes a finger or thumb to get stuck in a bent position or click and pop when moved. You can also injure your pinkie by using it to support your phone while you scroll.
How to fix it: Switch hands regularly or, even better, use two hands — one to hold the phone and the other to scroll. Williams recommends using your index finger rather than your thumb. And never use your pinkie to support your phone while scrolling.
Phone grips, accessories that adhere to the back of digital devices or cases to secure your grip for one-handed texting, can relieve pressure on your wrist and hand. Place it slightly below the center of your device for good balance and to allow your thumb to reach the screen on larger phones. This reduces the need for a tight grip on the phone and prevents wrist strain.
15 simple desk exercises to stave off aches and pains
“Motion is lotion” is the mantra of the healthy-aging movement, the prescription for warding off everything from stiff knees to back twinges from sitting too long.
“The trick is to get as much movement as possible,” says Brad Callan, an assistant professor of physical therapy at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences. “Movement creates the body’s WD-40 [a widely-used solvent that lubricates and generally saves metals from corrosion] and helps to maintain the mobility we tend to lose as we get older.”
If you spend hours sitting each day, getting enough movement can be challenging. Here are some simple exercises Callan recommends that will help your body get the motion it needs:
This shoulder-straightening exercise stretches the upper back.
Kyle Hilton
1. Shoulder-straightening
Sit upright and straighten your shoulders from the rounded position we tend to fall into when sitting for too long. Squeeze your shoulders to stretch your back. Don’t force a military-like posture. You should feel comfortable with the middle of your backside in a relaxed position and your ears, head and shoulders aligned.
Seated hamstring stretches help with tightness in the back of your legs.
Kyle Hilton
2. Seated hamstring stretch
While sitting, extend your left leg straight and lean forward from the waist over the leg to feel the stretch. Then do it with your right leg. It loosens the hamstring muscles on the backside of your calves.
Try 15 (or more) standing calf raises twice a day.
Kyle Hilton
3. Standing calf raises
Hold the back of your chair and rise onto your toes, hold for a second, then lower back down. Do it 15 times or more twice a day.
4. Upper back loosening
Put your hands behind your neck and bring your arms back behind them to relieve upper back stiffness.
Do the sit-to-stand 10 times in a row to help strengthen legs (and get you out of your seat).
Kyle Hilton
5. Sit-to-stand strengthening
Starting from a seated position, stand up and sit back down 10 times in a row without using your hands. This strengthens the legs and gets you out of the locked seated position.
Practice wrist and arm loosening to relieve hands and wrists that are tired from typing.
Kyle Hilton
6. Wrist and arm loosening
Extend your arm straight out, and use your other hand to pull your hand and fingers back to stretch the muscles in your forearm and palm. This increases flexibility if you type on a keyboard for long periods during the day.
Activate your shin and thigh muscles with seated leg extensions.
Kyle Hilton
7. Seated leg extensions
Sit on the edge of your chair, extend one leg straight out, and hold for two counts to activate the shin and thigh muscles. Repeat 10 times for each leg.
Squeeze and release your glute muscles.
Kyle Hilton
8. Glute squeezes
Squeeze your glute muscles (your butt), hold for 10 seconds, and release. Repeat 10 to 15 times.
Increase your spinal mobility with seated torso twists.
Kyle Hilton
9. Sitting torso twist
Sit tall in your chair with your feet flat, then twist to the right while holding the back of the chair. Hold this position for a few seconds, then switch sides for spinal mobility.
Arm circles work the shoulders.
Kyle Hilton
10. Arm circles
Extend your arms to the sides and make small circles to work your shoulders.
Do pelvic twists to ease tightness in your hips and lower back.
Kyle Hilton
11. Pelvic twists
While sitting, roll your pelvis forward and backward to create motion in your hips and lower back. Do it 15 times.
Try a 30-second desk plank to work your core.
Kyle Hilton
12. Desk plank
While standing, place your hands on your desk and walk your feet back until your body is a straight line. Hold this position for 30 seconds to work your core. (You need room to do this.)
Loosen your back and shoulder muscles with overhead stretching.
Kyle Hilton
13. Overhead stretch
Interlock your fingers and push palms toward the ceiling to stretch your back and shoulders.
Work the outer thighs with thigh presses.
Kyle Hilton
14. Thigh presses
To work the outer thighs, press the palms of your hands on the outside of your knees and push inward while trying to open your legs, for resistance.
Start with 5 desk push-ups, and increase reps as you grow stronger.
Kyle Hilton
15. Desk push-ups
Put both hands on your desk, step back and do push-ups to work the chest and triceps. Start with 5, and increase the number without losing form.
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