Our most recent batch of high school graduates have barreled into the first year of college head on. I normally don't get to see many of them until October, during the first visit home, but I've had a few encounters this week both in person and via email or phone that prompted me to write this blog.
College life comes with new studying habits and surroundings that have not always been kind to the neck and shoulder of our youngsters. In particular, new classrooms, dorm rooms, desks, and a lot of intense studying that is done at all times of the days and in all places: couches, beds, cafeteria tables, lounge tables etc.
The increased neck shoulder pain and sudden headaches experienced by many of my first-year college students is often less about mental stress than it is about physical ergonomic strain to the neck and shoulder associated with static cervical flexion from looking at small screens below eye level. Hardly anyone uses a desktop set up anymore, and laptops come with the inevitable physical limitation of having the screen and keyboard next to each other. For some reason, nobody raises up their hand to eye level but everybody lowers the head to his level. This results in the neck being in a prolonged forward flexed position, converting the 10 pound weight of an average human head into a 40 pound boulder and the leverage angle on the neck and upper back. This causes secondary significant overload of the upper cervical muscles, which tend to cause irritation to the occipital nerves, causing radiating pain along the occipital frontal lines and the temporal areas.
The 2 simple props I recommend for my college youngsters are a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse as well as a bed desk. The Bluetooth keyboard and mouse allow the student to prop the laptop to eye level is a screen, while keeping keyboarding and clicking material to waist level. The bed desk is an interesting take on the old breakfast in bed table, allowing to prop reading material at eye level on the surface like a bed, a recliner with armrests etc., with an angulated surface to place a book, a tablet, or a laptop. This allows most college students to comfortably study on their preferred technology while lounging on the bed. I will also recommend propped up pillows to keep the upper body in a slightly angulated position, and a nice comfortable bolster underneath their knees. All of these can be found easily on any online retailers, with a price point of about $20 for a combined slim Bluetooth keyboard and mouse that can easily be packed in a backpack, and around $50 for our nice adjustable bed desk with a tilt angle rest for the screen of a tablet or laptop.