By Max Knoblauch From Mashable

Whether you’re reading this at your desk, on your phone lounging on the couch, odds are you’re doing it wrong.

The way many of us use our tech could, and increasingly has, lead to short- and long-term injury. Doctors and therapists have reported a growing number of injuries and strains related to both the improper use of technology and damaging posture.

Many of these injuries we learn by unfortunate repetition, so stretching and other exercises won’t do a whole lot to offset incorrect use. Injury can only be prevented by taking corrective measures.

Luckily for you, we spoke to doctors and therapists who can help circle you back on the right track.

Computer posture

Most everyone who sits at a desk is doing it wrong, whether you’re leaning too far forward or bending your legs and limiting circulation.

Lorna Taylor, chartered physiotherapist and director of Jolly Back, explains the very real threat of bad posture.

“If you have been crunched over a new computer with the screen below eye level for longer than 30 minutes and feel the need to stretch, you have caused minor damage,” “If you have been crunched over a new computer with the screen below eye level for longer than 30 minutes and feel the need to stretch, you have caused minor damage,” she tells Mashable. “If repeated again and again, lasting changes in muscles, ligaments and tendons can occur.”

Lower back pain is the leading cause of disability globally. According to Taylor, the highest risk factor for back pain is having experienced it, so prevention is vital.

“Back pain in adults can also be exacerbated by stress and anxiety, so home and work life need consideration, too,” says Taylor. If having a stressful job is already hurting your back, make sure you’re sitting correctly so the problem doesn’t get worse.

The correct way to sit at a desk: with your entire back against your chair, your arms at 90-degree angles, feet resting flat in front of you and your neck relatively unbent. Too far forward, backward or any other combination of sitting can lead to discomfort and, if repeated often enough, permanent issues.

Texting and mobile use

David Ruch, practice division leader for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, has been witnessing a growing phenomenon of hand and thumb injuries related to texting. While “Blackberry thumb,” sounds outdated, the problem has persisted longer than the device it was named for.

“The majority of high-tech people are younger, and they’re the ones getting the tendonitis in the thumb,” Ruch tells Mashable. “There’s not a great treatment. It’s an overuse phenomenon.” “There’s not a great treatment. It’s an overuse phenomenon.”

According to Ruch, small screens, button-mashing and improper use are causing many young smartphone users to develop problems in hand tendons that can cause lasting damage when they reach the ages of 40 or 50.

“We try to have people hold their device a little bit further away from their body,” says Ruch, who recommends phones with larger screens held further away. “I don’t want to be a spokesperson for Samsung, but tablets and larger devices don’t allow users to flex their thumbs.”

To offset wrist and thumb pain, Ruch recommends applying a strip of wrap from the tip of your thumb down to the second joint before you go to bed. This will limit hyper-extension of your overused thumb joint.

As for button-mashing, repeated pressing of buttons on non-touch devices can cause numbness. If you’ve experienced this, you have already damaged the nerves in the tip of your thumb and should limit your use as much as possible.

Are you experiencing soreness or injuries from improper tech use, or overuse? What do you do to soothe your pain?

IMAGE: MASHABLE, WILL FENSTERMAKER

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