Between laptops, cell phones and tablets, many people spend hundreds of hours each month hunched over and staring down at one device or another. is a curvature at the bottom of the neck that creates a sort of slouching posture. “It’s often due to poor posture over time,” Echebiri said.
If you live a sedentary lifestyle or have poor body mechanics and poor ergonomic habits while you work, you’ll also be more likely to develop a dowager’s hump, saidAs we age, it’s more likely that this kind of spine curvature will happen, said Komperda, because of the loss of bone density that is common among older folks.
Instead, you should be looking straight ahead of you and maintaining a neutral posture. Consider your screen placement, keyboard placement and mouse placement, and the height of your work surface., one that allows you to sit upright and ideally even has lumbar support, Echebiri added. “Then you’re not hunching over, but you’re sort of in a relaxed position with your head upright and looking straight ahead.
“Every hour, making sure you look up from your screen and just take a short walk around the office or around your house — that can do wonders, for sure,” Vivekanandan said.Because it’s a visible issue, having a dowager’s hump can take a toll on your self esteem, Komperda noted. For the majority of people who work a desk job, just realizing that you’re hunching over or leaning forward to see the screen is the first step, Komperda said. Once you notice, you’ll be more likely to use proper ergonomics, get the right desk equipment and focus on doing exercises that can help your strength and mobility. “We call that postural awareness,” he said.So, you aren’t going to have a dowager’s hump just because you work a desk job.
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work.goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election.