Kelly Ripa Ditched Crunches and Rethought Reading in Bed to Avoid Neck Lines: Do Her Habits Really Work?
Dermatologists and spine surgeons both worry about the same habit, but for completely different reasons.
Think about how you’re holding your head right now. If you’re reading this on a phone, there’s a good chance your chin is pointed somewhere near your chest.
Kelly Ripa has made a habit of calling out that exact posture on Live With Kelly and Mark. She jokes that the neck ages faster than the rest of the body, and she’s reworked everything from how she reads to how she exercises to protect hers.
Her methods might sound over the top, but the worry behind them isn’t. Dermatologists link all that downward gazing to neck wrinkles, while spine surgeons connect it to stiffness and neck pain. So which of Ripa’s habits actually hold up, and which ones are just good TV?
What did Kelly Ripa say about her neck aging in dog years?
Ripa thinks the neck ages on a seven-to-one scale. “I have been saying this for several years now, the neck ages in dog years,” she told viewers on the Sept. 21 episode. “For every year you age, your neck ages seven more years.”
She’s pointed the finger at phones before. In a Nov. 14 episode in 2025, Ripa cautioned against “the sneaky way your cellphone is aging you” and said “tech neck is rapidly increasing our dog years.”
Does your neck really age faster than the rest of your body?
No. The dog-years ratio is Ripa’s punchline, not science. No medical formula says your neck racks up seven years for every one you live. What experts do agree on is that the habit she’s targeting, constantly looking down at screens, can take a toll on both your skin and your spine.
Why did Kelly Ripa stop doing crunches?
A plastic surgeon convinced her they were bad for her neck. On the March 12 episode, Ripa shared that David Rosenberg once told her, “The tighter your core, the worse your neck looks,” and that a tight core “ages your neck in dog years.”
She hasn’t done one since. “So now I haven’t done a crunch in five years. That ended that,” she said. These days, she sticks to planks, Pilates, swimming, yoga and the elliptical.
Do crunches cause neck wrinkles or neck pain?
There’s no good evidence that crunches make your neck look older. How you do them matters more than the move itself. Harvard Health Publishing explains that doing crunches with poor form can strain your neck and leave it stiff or sore. Those symptoms overlap with what many people call tech neck.
How does Kelly Ripa avoid tech neck while reading?
She reads flat on her back with the book held up over her face. Ripa described the routine to her husband and co-host Mark Consuelos on the Nov. 14 episode. “I lay back in the bed and I hold the book up until my hands fall asleep, and then I give myself a break,” she said. “I’ve spent too much money on this neck to ruin it now!”
What is tech neck?
Tech neck has two meanings, depending on who’s using the term.
In the beauty world, it refers to horizontal neck wrinkles and early signs of aging tied to looking down. That’s how Ripa uses it. According to The Wall Street Journal, skincare brands now sell retinol creams, neck moisturizers, red-light devices and more to target it.
In medicine, tech neck usually means the stiffness, soreness and muscle fatigue that build up when your head spends too long tipped forward or down.
Can looking at your phone cause neck wrinkles?
It can make some of them worse. Cosmetic dermatologist Melanie Palm told The Wall Street Journal that heavy phone use can deepen certain fixed horizontal lines on the neck. The problem is time. Hours spent with your head angled toward a screen add up.
Can tech neck cause neck pain?
Yes. Long stretches of screen time hold your neck in a position “that it isn’t meant to stay in,” says Peter G. Whang, MD, a spine surgeon at Yale Medicine. Over time, that can leave you with stiffness, soreness and fatigue.
How much weight does your neck carry when you look down?
More than you’d guess. The farther your head drops forward, the harder your neck muscles have to work, according to K. Daniel Riew, MD, a spine surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian. His comparison is hard to forget: “When you look down just 45 degrees, your neck muscles are doing the work of lifting an almost 50-pound bag of potatoes.”
How can you prevent tech neck?
Limit how long and how often your head stays tilted down. Experts suggest:
- Lifting screens toward eye level instead of lowering your head to them, a fix Whang recommends and Ripa swears by
- Stepping away from screens regularly and switching positions
- Keeping your head lined up over your shoulders rather than pushed forward
- Propping books and tablets on a stand or pillow
- Moving often, even when a position feels comfortable
What neck stretches help with tech neck?
The American Medical Association recommends three easy moves: chin tucks, gentle neck rotations and half-neck circles. Sprinkle them throughout your day to break up long stretches of looking down.
Can you get rid of neck lines caused by tech neck?
You can soften their look and keep new ones from forming. When it comes to how to get rid of neck lines, sun protection is step one.
If aging skin is your main concern, look for products with retinoids, peptides, hyaluronic acid or vitamin C. Just remember that even the best serum can’t outwork a habit, so cutting back on downward screen time matters too.
Do neck massagers help with tech neck?
They can ease mild tension, but they won’t fix the problem. Wearable neck massagers are one of the most popular tech neck remedies, and heat and massage may loosen tight muscles at the end of a long day. Still, there’s limited evidence that wearable neck massagers address the root cause of ongoing neck pain. They also do nothing about the posture habits behind it.
When should you see a doctor about tech neck?
See a doctor if neck pain keeps coming back. If neck lines or other skin changes keep getting worse, a dermatologist is your best bet. Ripa may joke about dog years, but stubborn symptoms deserve a real professional opinion, not just another gadget.
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Woman's World does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.
