The technologies of the 21st century have necessitated a neck massage technique for pain, stiffness, and hunching. Tech Neck is a syndrome that has arisen in our lives as we are glued to our computer screens for work and hobbies.

"I kept on hearing our clients complain that they are starting to look like the Humpback of Notre Dame. I knew that massage therapy could help straighten things out," says treatment innovator Dorit Baxter.

Symptoms of Tech Neck include rounded shoulders, pain between the shoulder blades, inflammation in the cervical spine, possible migraine headaches, muscle fatigue, tight neck, tingling "pins and needles" in the fingers or forearms, knots in the shoulders, strained pectoral muscles, and pain throughout the back.

When we slave over our computers all day, we hunch over, flex the neck, and arch our backs. The rhomboids (in the back) become weak and rounded, while the pectoral muscles (in the chest) shorten and tighten. The hunching activity of these muscles leads to pulling on the neck muscles. This pulling leads to further rounding of the shoulders, which in time leads to a slight hump between the shoulder blades (the cervical spine).

The New York Day Spa Tech Neck massage combats the ills of our tech-driven lives. We begin the massage with a steaming hot towel placed on the back and a series of stretches for the neck, spinal cord, rhomboid, and pectoral muscles, to encourage blood flow and deeper pressure application. This is followed by occipital release, direct pressure applied to the base of the skull and the top of the neck. Strain in the neck leads directly to strain in the scalp and temples that is eased by "deep combing" with the fingertips. The massage is concluded by focusing on the trapezius and rhomboids. First with thumb pressure, and concluding with a final stretching of the muscles with the forearm, the upper and middle back is treated to this specialized release therapy.