It’s 4:58, you’ve been working for 8-hours at your desk, and finally you can log off. As you go to turn off your monitor you notice that stiff and achey discomfort. If you’re wondering how you can get relief from neck pain while at your computer, this article will serve as a great guide. Follow these steps below to begin reducing the pain as soon as possible:
- Break up the amount of time you spend at your desk
- Cervical spinal exercises
- Neck traction
- Restore healthy spine function
In this article, we’ll break down each of the action steps above so you can discard your neck pain for good and get back to living and working comfortably.
Why Does Computer Work Cause Neck Pain?
Computers themselves don’t cause neck pain. However, the amount of time you spend staring at the screen, or how you do it, often does.
Your body is meant to move, not just stay static. So, sitting and maintaining the same position for a period of time will lead to discomfort over time. Your neck is also meant to remain looking at a screen for extended timelines. In other words, your neck shouldn’t be bent down for hours of the day, or turned to face your second or third monitor off to the side. If any of these situations sound familiar, your neck pain is likely due to your computer life.
How Can I Fix the Neck Pain From My Computer?
The good news is you can improve your situation. However, it’s usually not a quick fix. Most things in the body that’ve been present for awhile, either consistently, or inconsistently, take time. Further, the longer a problem has been present, typically, the longer it will take to improve.
In the following sections, we’ll outline the best ways you can begin to reduce or eliminate your neck pain from the computer.
Break Up the Amount of Time You Spend at Your Desk
Most people know they shouldn’t be sitting at their computer for long hours of the day. So, they move once or twice a day. However, the average desk worker should be moving a whole lot more than just a few times. We typically suggest getting up and moving every 20-30 minutes. This gives your body the chance to break up any adhesions or restrictions that may have develeoped during that period of time.
The human body wasn’t made to sit in one position for an exteneded length of time. If this feels like a difficult task to perform when you’re busy working, we understand. However, you’ll acutally be less productive if you sit in the same position and don’t move. Plus, you’ll create that annoying neck pain while you hang out at your computer.
Pro Tip: If you put your phone on the other side of your office and set the timer for 20-minutes, you’ll be much more likely to get up and turn it off. Get up, walk over, and reset the timer. While this is taking place, move a bit before sitting back down.
Cervical spinal exercises
If you’re looking to relieve neck pain while working at your desk, you’ll want to utilize cervical spinal exercises. These are the best tools to move your body when you decide to break up your sitting.
It’s best to move your neck in the three ranges of motion it allows, flexion/extension, rotation, lateral bending. Flexion/Extension is the motion you make when you tuck your chin to your chest and look up at the sky. Rotation is the motion your neck makes when you look all the way to the right or left. Finally, lateral bending is when you touch your ear to your shoulder on either side.
These motions are great for breaking up restrictions found in the muscle tissue and joints in your spine that could play a role in your neck pain.
Neck Traction
A great, passive exercise to perform is neck traction or cervical traction. You don’t need a very expensive device to do it. Here’s the steps:
- Lay across your bed, on your back.
- Make sure you get your shoulders on the edge of the bed.
- Hang your head off the bed
- Lay for 1-12 minutes, or whatever you can handle without experiencing dizziness, tingling, etc.
Each of the above exercises are fantastic. But, they’re typically short-term pain relief if only used in isolation. If you’re experiencing occasional or consistent neck pain after working at a computer, it’s likely you have a core problem in your spine.
How to Restore Healthy Spine Function
The structure of your spine may shift out of position or become restricted if you’re sitting for too long or too often. As a result, your soft tissue and nervous system may get impacted as well. These can contribute to neck pain, but may also impact you in ways you’re not aware of yet.
Unfortunately, the exercises usually don’t have the ability to get a restricted spine or decreased nervous system working well again. Instead, these situations often call for an expert who specializes in structural correction.
If you’ve never had your spine analyzed as a possible factor in your neck pain, it could be the missing piece. To schedule a free consultation with a Neuro-Structural chiropractor at Prime Chiropractic, click here!
Absolutely. The longer a problem has been there, the longer it will take to correct. Further, the literature points to your brain actually building an internal memory around pain. So, even if the physical problem contributing to your pain is removed, your brain may still hold onto the sensation of neck pain long after. This is another reason why understanding the health of your nervous system would be encouraged. To do so, click this link.
An ergonomic chair or standing desk may help reduce some of the pain, at least temporarily. However, the reason you’re experiecing neck pain isn’t because you have a cheaper office chair. Also, a stand up desk won’t save you, it’s only as good as the user. Meaning, if you don’t use your stand-up desk as designed, you’ll still suffer with neck pain. For more info on this topic, check out this link!
Neck pain may be common, but it’s certainly not normal. If you’ve noticed neck pain coming and going over the past few weeks, or you’ve had pain that has lingered consistently for at least that long, it’s likely time to seek help from an expert.