 What is Taco Neck?
(Hint: The phone is the frijoles. You are the tortilla.)
SUMMARY: Holding the telephone receiver between your neck and shoulder can lead to chronically tight muscles and abnormal joints. A headset is a simple, easy to use, and relatively inexpensive alternative. Chiropractic treatments can relieve pain and restore normal function. Exercise is the best way to keep the problem from recurring.
|
If any of these images remind you of yourself, you may be giving yourself a neck problem or aggravating one you may already have. Cradling the telephone receiver between your ear and shoulder is a bad habit. Many people are not even aware of how often they do it. "Just a minute, let me get a pencil and write down your number," you might say as you squeeze the receiver tighter between your head and shoulder. Doing the dishes, typing at a computer, driving, even eating are all activities we commonly perform while talking on the phone. And every time we do so, straining to keep the phone securely next to our ear and mouth, we gradually worsen an underlying problem.
|
 |
 |
Everyone does it: So what's so bad about doing this? After all, everyone does it, and you don't hear people complaining that … Wait a minute! Wasn't your spouse complaining of neck pain just the other day? And didn't the guy at work say he had a bad headache after talking on the phone all morning? Maybe these kinds of neck problems are more prevalent than we think.
Taco neck is a bad postural habit because it can aggravate a tendency to problems with the neck and upper back that affect most people today. Here's what happens when taco neck becomes a habit:
|
In order to hold the phone this way, the muscles which raise the shoulder blade - primarily the upper trapezius and levator scapula - have to contract. (Fig. 1) In most people, these muscles are already overactive because they are used in so many other daily activities. Many people go through each day never noticing how tight these muscles get until it is brought to their attention.
Try this: Ask someone to place the palms of their hands on your shoulders and then gently push down while saying "relax." Were you holding your shoulders up? Did you feel the muscles let go a bit?
|
 |
 |
A wrestling match: When a muscle is chronically tense, its antagonist is usually weak. An antagonist is a muscle that works in the opposite direction. For example, when you bend your elbow - say you're in the gym doing a biceps curl - the muscle that is the antagonist of the biceps, which is the triceps, has to relax in order for the elbow to bend. Otherwise your arm would have a wrestling match with itself. This phenomenon is known as reciprocal inhibition and happens quite naturally outside of your awareness whenever you move.
|
|
The Neanderthal look: Tense muscles are always in a state of contraction and thus inhibit their antagonists. In the case of the upper trapezius and levator scapula muscles, their chronic overactivity inhibits or weakens the lower trapezius and other muscles which stabilize the shoulder blades. Ideally, the shoulder blades should be fairly close to the spine and their inside borders nearly parallel to the spine. When these scapula retractor muscles are weak, the shoulder blades tend to ride up and out, giving the appearance of a rounded mid back. The shoulders roll forward and the chest looks shallow or even caved in, causing excess tension in the chest muscles - the pectorals - and also in the anterior neck muscles. Then the chin juts out and the weight of the head shifts forward. This cascading series of events contributes to further neck tension and headaches. It is also responsible for the Neanderthal look that has not been popular for hundreds of millennia.
|
|
|
|
Effect on bones and joints: All this muscular imbalance takes its toll on the bones and joints of your neck. (Similar effects occur in your back, too, but that's another story.) When you raise your shoulder to hold the telephone receiver against your ear, the joint surfaces in your spine move closer together. When taco neck becomes habitual, there can be less motion between the vertebrae in the neck and upper back. Eventually the range of motion between vertebrae becomes less. This can result in a fixation; that is, the joint becomes stuck in part of its normal range of motion. Inflammation can develop. The neck becomes quite painful and stiff. This condition is called a facet syndrome or articular capsulitis. It is similar to a condition that sometimes affects the shoulder which is also called articular capsulitis, although you might recognize it by the more familiar term frozen shoulder. Someone with this type of problem typically awakens with a stiff neck or feels the neck suddenly “go out” with immediate onset of pain and stiffness. When stiffness and inflammation occur repeatedly over time, the result can be osteoarthritis.
|
 |
Yes, there is a solution. The simplest way to prevent taco neck is by using a telephone headset. This is preferable to holding the receiver to your ear with your hand. Several brands and models are available including cordless ones that don’t keep you tethered to your phone. There are many choices in the $75 to $100 range. Some employers will bear the cost of a headset. Consider getting a headset for home use if you are frequently on the phone while preparing meals or doing other household chores. The cost in terms of pain and suffering, therapy, and time away from work and other activities due to taco neck is far greater than the money spent on a headset.
|
 |
|
|
Treatment: Mechanical neck pain and dysfunction are often successfully treated with a combination of chiropractic adjustments, massage therapy, and exercise. Therapy modalities such as ice, heat, ultrasound, or electric muscle stimulation may be used to speed the recovery. Even long-standing problems - including arthritis - can be significantly improved. The key to staying well, however, is a corrective exercise program in which tight muscles are stretched and weak muscles strengthened. Maintaining “good” posture - that is, a posture that is more mechanically efficient - is easier when weak muscles are strengthened. When stronger muscles can do more work with less effort, good posture becomes a habit.
|
|
|
