14/02/2026
5 Dangerous Behaviors That Damage Your Neck (That Doctors Urge You to Avoid at All Costs)
If you are doing any of these, please know that you are accelerating cervical spine degeneration.
1. ❎Looking Down at Your Phone (Text Neck Syndrome)
This is the number one killer! Normally, our head weighs 5 kilograms (in a straight-ahead position).
But believe it or not... just by "looking down 60 degrees" to use your phone, the weight pressing on your neck bones increases to 27 kilograms!
Imagine having a large bucket of water or a 7-year-old child constantly riding on your neck while you're using your phone. How can your intervertebral discs withstand that?
Solution: Always hold your phone at eye level. Look straight ahead, don't bend your neck towards the screen.
2. ❎The "Turtle Neck Stretch" Posture at the Computer (Forward Head Posture)
Office workers, check this out! When we concentrate on work, the computer screen is often low. Or, when the text is small, we unconsciously "lean" closer to the screen, hunching our shoulders, slouching our backs, and jutting our necks forward like a turtle.
This posture causes the muscles in the back of the neck to work constantly, leading to scar tissue formation and making it easier for a herniated disc to compress a nerve.
Solution: Pull the computer screen closer to your body and raise it higher. The top edge of the screen should be at eyebrow level, and try to "pull your chin back" so your ears are aligned with your shoulders.
3. ❎"Cracking your neck" (Neck Cracking)
I know it feels good... when you're tired and you twist your neck hard, making the bones crack. It feels like temporary relief.
But little do you know that the sound is from the joints rubbing and impacting each other. Doing this frequently will cause "loose joints" and chronic inflammation, accelerating the growth of calcium deposits dramatically.
Solution: When you feel tired, use slow, held stretches instead of quickly jerking your neck.
4. ❎Sleeping with a pillow that's "too high"
Many people like to sleep with a high pillow because they feel they can breathe easier or because they watch TV in bed.
Sleeping with a high pillow keeps your neck in a "bent" position all night (6-8 hours). This compresses the intervertebral discs in front and exposes them to the back, increasing the chance of the gel inside herniating and compressing nerves upon waking.
Solution: Choose a pillow that's "just right," so that when you rest your head on it, your face is parallel to the ceiling, neither bent nor tilted, and your neck is aligned with your spine.
5. ❎Sleeping on the sofa or resting your head on an armrest while watching TV.
Falling asleep on the sofa with your head on a hard armrest, or lying face down while using your phone, is neck-damaging posture. Your neck is twisted or bent unnaturally for too long, resulting in a stiff neck or inability to move it upon waking.
✅2 "killer" exercises to restore cervical spine health (easy and effective).
If you can avoid the above behaviors, I recommend doing these two exercises regularly every day, morning and evening, or while sitting at work, to create a protective shield for your neck.
✅Exercise 1: Chin Tuck Exercise
This is the most important exercise! To correct "forward-moving neck" and realign the spine:
How to:
Sit or stand upright, looking straight ahead (do not look down).
Gently touch your chin with your index finger and gently pull your chin backward (like making a surprised face or showing a double chin).
You will feel a stretch at the back of your neck, as if your neck is being stretched.
Hold for 5-10 seconds, then relax.
Repeat 10 times (you can do this frequently throughout the day).
Benefits: This exercise helps relax tense muscles in the back of the neck and helps push a herniated disc back into place.
✅Exercise 2: Isometric Neck Exercise
For people with cervical spondylosis, we should avoid forcefully jerking the neck. Therefore, we use a "resistance" technique to strengthen the neck muscles, similar to wearing a natural neck brace, without moving the joints.
How to:
Resist the front force: Place your hands on your forehead and gently push your head forward, resisting your hands (hands push back, head pushes). Keep your neck tense and hold for 10 counts.
Resist the back force: Clasp your hands behind your head. Push your head back against your hand, counting to 10.
Fight against the side pressure (left-right): Place your hand on your temple and push your head to the side, resisting your hand. Alternate between left and right sides for 10 seconds each.
Benefits: This significantly strengthens the muscles around the neck, helping to support the weight of the head instead of the vertebrae and intervertebral discs. It greatly reduces chronic pain.
Concluding remarks from the doctor:
Cervical disc degeneration is a disease that accumulates over time. Today, it may not show severe symptoms, but if you continue to bend your head down to use your phone and twist your neck daily, one day the accumulated points will manifest as agonizing pain.
The best treatment is not surgery or expensive medication, but "adjusting your posture."
Try starting today... Raise your phone higher, pull your chin back, and tuck in your double chin frequently. Just doing these things will allow your neck to thank you and function for a long, long time
For bone and joint problems or pain symptoms, please consult:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thaninnit Leerapan (Dr. Keng),
Orthopedic Specialist.
Feel free to ask about bone and joint problems, back pain, neck
