my neck is aging faster than my face and i blame gaming

Not dismissing the controller thing, but I’d check whether those lines are actually there when your neck is neutral. Mine looked way worse after weight loss because there was less underlying volume, not just from looking down.

Two cheap trackers helped: raising my monitor/phone to eye level, and taking a monthly neck photo (same window light, chin neutral) instead of judging in a mirror. If the horizontal lines only show when you flex, that’s creasing.

If they’re visible relaxed, it’s more likely structural/volume-related. How fast did the 20 lbs come off?

Rapid loss can make neck laxity way more obvious than face puffiness.

Fellow regain-and-restart person here (lost 30, gained 18, climbing back). The neck thing hit me too, and mine is way worse after long looking-down sessions.

What helped me actually see it: I took a side-profile neck photo every Sunday in the same bathroom light. The crepey look was partly dryness/dehydration from all the soda, but the two horizontal lines tracked with my gaming posture.

I moved my monitor up and put a throw pillow under my forearms so the controller sits higher. Not magic, but the lines aren’t as angry. Are yours worse right after ranked nights or pretty constant? Also, how’s the sparkling water swap going—I had to do half still water or I got bloated.

Hi, I’m new here too — only week one, so I’m mostly lurking and taking notes. This might be a silly question, but do you game handheld or on a TV? I ask because my “tech neck” lines looked way worse when I played Switch in bed with my chin tucked.

I moved my screen up on a stack of books for a week and took a photo in the same window light each morning, and the lower line looked less deep — could’ve just been less puffiness, though. Have you compared morning vs. end-of-day photos?

I’m in a long plateau too and totally get hyper-focusing on the neck. Mine looked extra crepey around the 20-lb mark—like my face deflated first and the neck lagged.

What actually helped me: raising my monitor so I wasn’t looking down, a cheap silk pillowcase, and putting the same moisturizer/sunscreen on my neck as my face. Not magic, but the horizontal lines softened a bit. Are you doing anything neck-specific yet, or just riding it out while the rest catches up?

Honestly, hi, brand new here too, so I’m mostly lurking. Your gaming setup detail caught my eye: is your screen/TV actually at eye level, or are you still looking down because the couch is low?

I only ask because I noticed my own neck looked more lined after long phone/gaming sessions, and raising my monitor + a small stool for my feet helped me stop turtling. Also, I’ve been tracking water and sodium alongside my weight, and my neck looks noticeably more crepey on salty/high-sodium days.

Could the sparkling water be crowding out plain water for you? Not judging, I’m guilty of the same.

I keep a dumb spreadsheet for this: weekly neck circumference, daily screen-time, and a 1–10 “crepe” score from the same bathroom lighting. My trendline says the crepey look tracked my rate of loss, not my gaming hours—peaked around month 3, softened by month 6.

The horizontal lines didn’t budge until I changed pillow height; I was side-sleeping with my chin jammed down. What’s your sleep position? That might be a bigger variable than the controller, honestly.

Tbh horizontal creases and vertical bands aren't the same problem. If the lines disappear when you tilt your chin up and stretch the skin, they're positional — gaming posture accelerates an existing fold.

If they persist at rest, that's laxity, and with 20 lbs down, the neck fat pad deflates before skin retracts, so it looks worse before it looks better. Collagen remodeling runs on a months timeline.

Standardize a weekly photo — same window light, same distance, chin neutral and then extended — instead of judging in the bathroom mirror at 1am.

Mine looked worst around month 4 and had partially settled by month 7. Worth knowing neck dermis is thinner with far fewer sebaceous glands than face, so it shows volume loss first regardless of what you're doing with a controller.

Two kids here, so my gaming is 20-minute chunks after bedtime, and I totally get the chin-tuck thing. What helped me was changing the setup, not adding ten steps: TV on a wall mount a few inches higher, controller held up with elbows on a pillow, and a phone stand for handheld so I’m not looking down.

I also moved my sparkling water to the snack drawer so it’s the first thing I grab. Are you mostly playing on a TV or handheld? That changes which tweak actually sticks.

Mildly contrarian: I logged it. Four weeks of neck selfies (same lamp, same 7am), plus hours of chin-down gaming.

My lines correlated way harder with sleep debt and salty late snacks than with controller time. Down 22 lbs, face deflated by week 3; neck texture lagged until around wek 9.

Sparkling water swap is good, but check sodium—flavored kinds can be sneaky. What’s your average sleep on ranked nights? I’d bet that moves your trendline more than posture.

Two kids here, so my game time is after bedtime. I moved my Switch to a gooseneck tablet arm clamped to the couch so I can play head-up instead of chin-to-chest.

Looks ridiculous, but my horizontal line stopped feeling so etched in the morning. I also keep a cold sparkling water in the snack drawer next to the kids’ fruit snacks so I grab that instead of late-night soda.

Are you playing handheld or on a monitor? The fix is pretty different depending on which.

Sharp follow-up: do the lines look the same on a no-gaming day? That’s your control. I logged neck angle instead of just photos: timer every 30 min, phone on a shelf, and my crepey/shadowy neck tracked with total minutes below ~30° down-gaze, not with scale weight.

Ranked sessions were the outlier because I basically stop swallowing and repositioning. I raised my monitor and added a “look at the ceiling like a weirdo” timer between matches.

Lines didn’t vanish, but the afternoon crepe did, which tells me it’s mostly posture/fluid. If yours is identical at 7am after a no-game day, then gaming isn’t the main variable.

Road warrior here: my neck lines track way more with travel weeks than gaming sessions. Specifically airplane tray-table laptop posture and hotel pillows that are either marshmallows or cinder blocks.

I started noting pillow setup in my phone (one flat pillow + rolled towel vs. the two-stack) and my 7am neck crease is way less obvious on one-pillow nights. I also prop my phone/controller higher in airport lounges so I’m not chin-tucking for two hours.

Sharp Q: are your lines deeper the morning after a flight/hotel night, or pretty even at home? That might separate travel posture from the rest.