'Tech Neck' caused by smartphones, tablets, doctors warn

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Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Three girls use their smartphones at the park.
Three girls use their smartphones at the park.
Shutterstock

LOS ANGELES -- Researchers say sun damage, poor diet, and stress can affect the way you look. And now they're saying your smartphone may age you as well.

Doctors say the way you use your phone can be giving you a condition called "Tech Neck." And it's not just limited to your phone.

They say laptops, tablets or other electronics that force you to bend your neck could weaken the muscles and lead to saggy skin.

In an interview with Good Morning America, Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Harold Lancer likened the muscles in one's neck to the wires in a suspension bridge, like San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

"If you're always looking down, those wires are loose, they're not toned," he said. "So the muscles are loose, the skin on top of the muscles are loose. It gets all crinkly and wrinkly, and it looks bad."

Lancer says he's seeing more and more patients who complain of sagging neck skin, and notes that many of those clients are younger than 40.

He recommends keeping the neck skin out of the sun and to make sure it's moisturized.

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