Quick, where is your head right now? If it’s tipped forward and tilted down toward a phone or laptop, you’re in good company. Unfortunately, you’re also likely giving yourself tech neck, aka the horizontal creases that etch across the front of the neck from all those hours of scrolling, emailing and texting.
Ahead, we’re breaking down what causes tech neck, how to spot it and how to prevent and treat it, from daily habits to in-office fixes.
Featured Experts
- Joel Schlessinger, MD is a board-certified dermatologist in Omaha, NE
- Kathryn “Celeste” Durham, MD is a board-certified dermatologist in Fort Worth, TX
What Is Tech Neck?
The clinical term for tech neck is forward head posture (FHP). It’s “an acquired postural problem where the head sits abnormally forward in comparison to the shoulders,” explains Fort Worth, TX dermatologist Kathryn “Celeste” Durham, MD. Over time, that repeated strain can show up on the skin as horizontal lines, known as Venus rings or tech neck wrinkles, and they can appear even in young people and children.
It’s the same way the “11s” between your brows form: Frown again and again, and the crease eventually stays put. Tech neck works like that, too, explains Omaha, NE dermatologist Joel Schlessinger, MD. Every time you look down, your skin folds in the same spot, and eventually the line sticks around.
So how do you tell tech neck from regular aging? Dr. Durham says it comes down to direction. Tech neck lines run straight across the neck and sit on a single plane, while aging tends to show up as crepey, loose skin. The earliest signs are small, faint wrinkles, Dr. Schlessinger adds, and they can deepen over time.
What Causes Tech Neck?
Looking down is the trigger behind tech neck, but it’s not the only one. Dr. Durham says photoaging, or sun damage, plays a part, and so does blue light. She explains that there’s no strong evidence the blue light from devices causes free-radical damage on its own, but it does add to the blue light we already get from the sun and other light sources. And since collagen naturally declines with age, skin is less able to bounce back from all that folding.
Tension matters, too. Tightness in the upper neck and head can make tech neck worse, Dr. Durham says. Not to make matters more stressful, but it can even contribute to kyphosis, an exaggerated curve in the upper back.
How to Prevent Tech Neck
The easiest way to prevent tech neck is to be proactive about how you use your devices. Dr. Durham recommends raising your computer to an ergonomic height and lifting your phone closer to eye level, so your head isn’t dropping every time a notification pings.
Then there’s the light your skin is exposed to. Dr. Durham suggests adding a blue light filter to your devices as an extra precaution, but sunscreen is the real nonnegotiable. She recommends a mineral formula daily to shield skin from UV rays, the biggest collagen culprit (a tinted one offers some added protection against visible light, too). And yes, that means applying it to your neck, too, to reap the benefits.
Tech Neck Treatments
Don’t worry—once the lines have set in, you’ve still got options, some of which might already live in your vanity. They go as follows:
Skin Care for Tech Neck
Dr. Durham recommends retinoids (like tretinoin), which help rebuild collagen. For something made specifically for the neck, Dr. Schlessinger suggests his own LovelySkin LUXE Firming Peptide Neck Cream ($110), which packs in several types of peptides, including palmitoyl tripeptide-1, plus acetyl dipeptide-1 cetyl ester to help calm the skin’s inflammatory response. Just know that topicals alone won’t erase deeper creases.
Neurotoxins and Fillers for Tech Neck
For those, it’s time to call in the pros. In-office treatments can help “tremendously,” says Dr. Durham. Hyaluronic acid fillers plump the lines from underneath, while neurotoxins such as Botox Cosmetic, Xeomin, Dysport and Jeuveau relax the platysma, the thin muscle that runs along the neck, to soften their look.
Microneedling and Lasers for Tech Neck
Since anything that boosts collagen helps, Dr. Durham also likes microneedling with PRP (platelet-rich plasma) to smooth the lines and strengthen the collagen around them. And if loose skin or sun damage comes along with the creases, radiofrequency microneedling and fractional lasers can tackle both.
Do Tech Neck Treatments Last?
No, tech neck treatments don’t last forever. The results of treatments like neurotoxins and lasers are temporary, Dr. Schlessinger says, and constant phone and tablet use will undo them. That’s why both doctors take a long-game approach.
Dr. Schlessinger stresses prevention as a huge part of improvement, while Dr. Durham leans on daily sunscreen and retinoids to protect and rebuild collagen between appointments, with procedures like microneedling and lasers helping strengthen the skin itself. The best results come from pairing the two: Treat the lines, then change the habit that put them there.
