IF YOU find yourself frequently slouching at your desk, rounded shoulders and neck pain might not be the only unwanted side effects your left with.
Turns out the, the inevitable slump over your laptop could also leave you with a double chin.
A survey created by face yoga app Luvly – done in collaboration with posture bra company Etalon – found that 94 per cent of women slouch while using gadgets, with 27 per cent clocking in over eight hours of screen time per day.
Combined with long periods of inactivity, poor desk posture can lead to a buildup of tension while causing your muscles to fatigue.
As a result, the body can lose the ability to hold itself up properly, meaning that poor posture can become the default even when we’re away from our screens.
This seemed to be the case for the 1,908 women surveyed on their use of technology and its impact on their health and appearance – 88 per cent admitted to suffering from neck and shoulder pain.
Luvly warned that spinal dysfunction, joint degeneration, rounded shoulders, and a potbelly could also be possible side effects of the desk slouch.
Participants also reported changes to their appearance too, with 95 per cent of women admitting they’d noticed signs of premature ageing.
Some 64 per cent of women said their skin had started sagging around their jawline and neck, while 57 per cent have noticed wrinkles on their face, and 39 per cent spotted visible lines on their neck and shoulders.
Over half – 52 per cent to be exact – said they’d spotted a double chin beginning to emerge.
Kristina Rudzinskaya, a certified Pilates instructor and CEO of Etalon, said: “Over-laptop-hunching can change the position of our neck muscles, especially the platysma – a broad, thin, superficial muscle that covers the neck and lower face and is responsible for mouth movement and frowning.
“That leads to mouth corners being pulled down, causing wrinkles and sagging skin.”
Fear not, there are a few ways to help correct your turkey neck.
In a video shared exclusively with The Sun, Angela Rosoff – a certified face yoga instructor and yoga teacher at Luvly – showed three simple exercises to help improve your posture and reduce the effects of slouching on your face and neck.
Angela recommended starting off with a neck stretch before doing exercises to reduce your double chin.
Start by pulling your shoulders up, back, and down.
Allow your solar plexus to press forward, gently lift your head up, and slowly roll your head from side to side.
Complete this pose within the time of taking three deep breaths and exhales.
Repeat three to five times.
This exercise may look funny, but it’s excellent for stretching the platysma muscle, running from your jawline to the edge of your shoulders.
Start by gently placing your hands across your body onto opposite shoulders.
Then act as if you’re kissing someone – in a rather lopsided way.
Move your lips over to the right, gently move your head to the right and up as if you are kissing someone who is above and behind your right side.
Repeat the pose on your left side. Hold for two breaths, then exhale and relax.
Repeat three times.
To ‘mew’, place your entire tongue on the roof of your mouth.
If placing the whole tongue is too difficult, begin with the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth.
Then gently open the mouth and close while keeping the tongue firmly on the roof, to lift the lower chin.
Do this motion three times, take a breath and repeat the process another two times.
IF your face is looking a little fuller than you'd like, a good place to start if to reassess your diet and activity levels.
Putting weight on in our faces is a result of a build-up of fat deposits.
This excess fat is usually caused by overall weight gain, which is typically linked to one or more of these factors – poor diet, lack of exercise, ageing or genetic conditions.
Facial bloating can be another culprit – if this is the case, you might notice the appearance of your face fluctuating day-to-day.
Aside from facial exercises, here are a few ways to slim down your face:
Source: Holland & Barrett
