Working from home ‘tech neck’ phenomena sees increase in demand for therapeutic pillows

If you’ve been finding you’ve had a sore neck lately, you’re not alone

A side-effect of Covid-19 restrictions is the number of people reporting problems with ‘tech neck’, an uncomfortable phenomena caused by excessive technology consumption and poor posture when working from home.

Despite an initial downturn in April this year, local manufacturer Posture Form is now experiencing a surge in sales for their therapeutic pillows, from customers wanting to improve their sleep posture to counteract what they’re doing during the day.

“We’re taking pre-orders and selling out before the next batch is finished being handcrafted at our Brisbane manufacturing facility,” Posture Form Co-Founder Lone Lawson said.

Why Demand is Up for Therapeutic Pillows

“As well as an increase in the number or people putting their neck and shoulders out, the pandemic has seen a renewed appreciation for Australian made products. We used the quieter time at the beginning of the pandemic to reinvigorate our brand and move to plastic-free packaging. The move towards a more sustainable pillow has been really well received, but we never expected to see sales increases like we have.”

Meanwhile, Gold Coast chiropractor Dr Trent Headlam, who stocks the Posture Form therapeutic pillows in his clinic, said he’s seeing an increase of about 20 per cent in neck and shoulder complaints. The lockdowns seem to go hand in hand with neck pain and back problems, this trend has also been observed by Posture Form’s other clinics.

People are Working on their Laptops from their Beds

“Unfortunately, the ergonomics in a home situation are very different to what you would find in the work or school environment,” Dr Headlam said.

“From conversations with patients, people are literally doing a full day’s work on their laptop from their beds or on the kitchen table. When we analyse someone’s spine, we look at postural stress and strain in their work or schooling environment, how much time their spending on handheld devices, the type of sports they do, if they have any old injuries, but, we also look at sleeping posture.

What people don’t really understand is that you spend 7-9 hours in bed sleeping, so if your spine isn’t supported on a good mattress and a good pillow that enhances the natural shape of the neck, then you’re actually doing damage all night.”

Posture Form co-preneurs Andrew and Lone (pronounced Lona) Lawson have been zoning in on pillows for almost two decades, but only launched their latest iteration in July last year.

“Posture Form’s unique graphite-infused open-cell foam is part of the magic, but the science behind the perfect pillow is complex,” explained Andrew.

“The double-contour and adjustable-height features are key to supporting healthy alignment for the head, neck and shoulders for side or back sleepers and greatly reducing snoring. The cooling effect of graphite means you’re also not needing to flip your pillow through the night.”

You can browse the Posture Form range of therapeutic pillows, or get in touch via the contact page.