Nathan Hager, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – With that amazing touchscreen, super-thin profile and hundreds of thousands of apps, it seems there’s nothing the iPad can’t do.

Too bad there isn’t an app for iPain.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health warn of an increased risk of neck and shoulder pain from using iPads in a way that promotes bad posture.

The researchers asked 15 volunteers either to hold their tablet computers flat on their laps with no case or to prop them up in a case at table level, at a low or high angle.

The lap volunteers bent their necks and shoulders more than those who had them up on the table, raising the risk for upper-body discomfort.

The researchers recommend in the journal “Work” that iPad lovers use their cases to reduce the strain, but they say more research is needed to determine the best angle to prop up the device.

Leaning it up too high, they fear, could increase the risk of wrist and hand strain.

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