I love my iPad. I’ve had it for a year and in that time have only been without it for… well, I pretty much always have it with me.I even take it to the loo. It’s got good books, great magazines; I can test myself with science trivia, watch YouTube videos, send e-mails, even write my articles - but it causes a pain in my neck.It used to be that I could take a tablet to alleviate such pain, but I’ve learned that it’s actually my tablet - my iPad - that’s causing the problem.The knot at the base of the right side of my neck can feel so heavy at times, almost like a 5lb weight is pressing down on my shoulder and tugging at my neck.I’ve had to have deep tissue massages - an hour long at a time - to try to ease the pain. It works for a while but I can’t afford doing this every day.My chiropractor, Bari Fenster, said part of the problem is likely the way I use my iPad. She said the problem comes from holding my head in a flexed position for extended periods at a time.Reid Robinson of Inside Out Wellness Centre agreed. “Without a separate keyboard, laptops and iPads will train your spine to lose or reverse its vital curvature,” he said.Most of the time when I use the iPad I have it in my lap reading, or I lie it flat on my desk slightly bending my head down to type or read.Researchers at Harvard’s School of Public Health this year found that users of tablet computers keep their heads in a more flexed position when using their devices than those who work on desktop or notebook computers.“Working for long periods of time with the head slumped forward and the neck flexed can result in neck pain,” said Jack Dennerlein.The solution? Dr Robinson said it’s best to raise the tablet device to eye level, either by placing it on a stand or improvising a stand with books, or a box.“Use a separate keyboard and mouse and avoid using your device while on the couch or in bed at all costs,” he said. “Several factors that cause or prolong muscoskeletal injuries, even during treatment, include using laptops, iPads, Blackberrys etc in bed.“There is no position in bed that works for this. This, along with lying or slouching on the couch with the legs up, will not work because of righting reflexes.”Righting reflexes are movements the body makes automatically to keep itself in postural homeostasis.The body is continuously compensating, keeping itself balanced over the feet and the head over the vertebrae of the neck with eyes level to the horizon.Roger Sperry, who won the Nobel Prize for brain research, said: “Ninety percent of the stimulation and nutrition to the brain is generated by the movement of the spine.”Dr Robinson said the result of holding a forward-head posture is that it “will rob the brain’s energy from thinking, metabolism and immune function to deal with abnormal gravity/posture relationships and processing”.He said: “A head in a forward posture like that used by many using laptops, iPads, Blackberrys etc, can add up to 30 pounds of extra work on the neck. This can pull the entire spine out of alignment.”Of course this will not always happen, but Dr Robinson said the posture will fatigue muscles in the area and decrease nerve communication.In my case I haven’t managed to pull my whole spine out of alignment, but I am needing lots of restorative therapy for my neck and shoulders to return them to functioning as best as possible.Dr Robinson noted that such therapy is also important to prevent further degeneration of my functioning.