02/17/2026
Most people with “tech neck” think their problem is tight muscles in the back of the neck.
It’s not.
One of the biggest hidden drivers of forward head posture is a small, deep muscle in the front of your neck called the longus capitis. Its job is simple: keep your head stacked over your spine. When it’s working, your head stays supported. When it’s not, your skull drifts forward — and the muscles in the back of your neck are forced to hold up a 10–12 pound bowling ball all day.
That burning in your upper traps? The headaches at the base of your skull? The constant need to stretch? Those are often compensation patterns. The longus capitis isn’t doing its job, so everything behind you is overworking to keep your head from falling forward.
Stretching the back of your neck might feel good temporarily. But if you never reactivate the deep stabilizers in the front, the posture won’t hold. Tech neck isn’t just about tightness — it’s about support. And if you don’t fix the support system, the tension always comes back.
If you want to actually change forward head posture, you have to wake up the muscles designed to hold your head in place.
