To help you avoid neck pain, place the monitor at eye level, sit upright, and avoid tilting and turning your head down or to the side while at the computer. Also, make sure to take breaks to stop looking at the screen. Here are 5 simple tips that will go a long way in helping your neck and back feel better at work. This site is for educational purposes only; it is not intended or implied that any information replaces professional medical advice.
The information is produced and reviewed by more than 200 medical professionals with the goal of providing reliable and unique information for people with painful health problems. Even when you're upright, the thin cervical spine of your neck has a heavy load to bear. The average adult head weighs 10 to 12 pounds when the spine is aligned and you are standing properly. Tilt your head down just 15 degrees to watch a video of a cat, and now your neck holds 27 pounds.
Bend 45 degrees to scroll through the trolls on Twitter, and your neck struggles to support 60 pounds of weight. When the neck is sore and stiff, applying ice for the first 48 to 72 hours can relieve pain and reduce swelling. After that, switch to heat with a heating pad, warm compresses, or a warm bath to help the muscles and tendons heal and stretch. A good example of this is when a person develops shoulder or neck pain when swimming, playing tennis, or running, the cause of which can be attributed to the rounded forward shoulder or head posture they have developed while working at their computer.
He's a weird person with a neck problem who says, “Oh, yes, I can work at a computer for hours every day and not let my neck bother me. If you experience prolonged pain, Elizabeth Anderson, DC and Erin Anderson, DC, of Twin Life Chiropractic, recommend adjusting, which helps relieve pain and address structural problems that the text neck creates over time. Poor upper traps are one of the main muscle groups that tighten and hurt when people “carry” stress on their necks. However, they did notice that high mobile phone use and lack of exercise could be associated with neck and back pain.
The best way to treat and prevent neck and back pain is yoga, Goodrich says, because it helps improve movement patterns, increases body awareness, and incorporates breathing work. Padahastasana stretches the neck and hamstrings, which means it fights against the neck and hips that are tight from sitting all day at the same time, Goodrich explains. Not only can this lead to neck and back pain, but it can also cause shoulder impingement and pain during sports. Recently, researchers in Brazil studied 150 young adults, ages 18 to 21, and found that text neck had no relation to neck pain.
This neck exercise is ideal for stretching the muscles in the back of your neck so that you can keep it in a more neutral position.
