A meagre 15 degree neck tilt can create triple the forces on your spine. 
To reduce the effect, lift up the phone/tablet to eye level - or better yet, take a break!

A new study suggests that looking down at a cell phone is the equivalent of placing a 60-pound weight on one's neck.
By Olga Khazan [original article published on SBS.com.au http://goo.gl/IfHjOV]
 
Source: The Atlantic
20 NOV 2014 - 9:00 AM 
Sixty pounds (27.2 kilograms) is roughly the weight of four adult-sized bowling balls. Or six plastic grocery bags worth of food. Or an 8-year-old.

It is also, according to a new calculation published in the journal Surgical Technology International, the amount of force exerted on the head of an adult human who is looking down at her phone.

Kenneth Hansraj, a New York back surgeon, found this figure using a computer model of a human spine. An average human head weighs about 10 to 12 pounds (4.5 to 5.4 kilograms), and tilting it down to check Facebook, send a text, or to Google the weight of an a human head increases the gravitational pull on said cranium.

"As the head tilts forward the forces seen by the neck surges to 27 pounds (12.2 kilograms) at 15 degrees, 40 pounds (18.1 kilograms) at 30 degrees, 49 pounds (22.22 kilograms) at 45 degrees and 60 pounds (27.2 kilograms) at 60 degrees," Hansraj writes in the paper.

According to Nielsen, Americans spend about an hour on their phones each day. Unless you train yourself to stare straight ahead into your iPhone screen, you could be continually stressing your spine. "These stresses," Hansraj writes, "may lead to early wear, tear, degeneration, and possibly surgeries."

Of course, physical therapists have been howling about the scourge of "Text Neck" for years. But it's certainly eyebrow-raising to learn that looking at Twitter in the supermarket checkout line is the equivalent of giving an aardvark a piggy-back ride.

Time to get Google Glass? Until, that is, scientists find that the device is crushing the nose-bridges of America.

This article was originally published on The Atlantic. Click here to view the original. © All rights reserved.

Office ergonomics are not complex, 
but we need to pay attention to how we (and our children) are working.

• Watch the angle of your wrists - we often kink them when using mice and keyboards (see pic)

• Eyes should be level with the top of the computer screen.

• Arms relaxed, at right angles to the desk top.

• Hips and knees at right angles (90 degrees).

• Chairs are very important - we need to sit well supported in an adjustable well-fitting task chair — pay attention to height adjustment, lumbar support, back rest and seat depth. 

• Feet need support - on the floor or on a footrest.

• We need to regularly change our posture, and take regular breaks from the desk.

• Make sure lighting in the room is appropriate - not too dim, not too bright.