It’s 4pm and, yet again, you’re headed to the
medicine cabinet for your daily dose of Advil to cure your neck pain. Sound
familiar? Do you ever wonder WHY this unrelenting, nagging pain won’t just go
away already!?
I’ll tell you WHY! Unknowingly, your daily activities
are causing those aches! Most neck pain is a result of repetitive daily tasks
that put strain on the muscles and joints of your neck. Today I am going to
touch on the 4 most common activities that you do EVERY DAY that trigger neck
pain (and headaches!):
Computer Work:
Working at a desk where you are sitting all day in
front of the computer is the NUMBER ONE thing we do that leads to neck pain.
Why? Desk posture! Also known as “student or secretary syndrome”, the day-in,
day-out strain that is put on your neck while lurched over your desk can really
add up! The most common desk posture causes your upper back to slouch and round
while your neck juts forward. This position lengthens your muscles and makes
them weak. It also puts a great deal of pressure on your spinal disks, which
can lead to disc bulging and pain (sometimes down the arms or the legs).
Sitting with this posture every day leads to considerable muscular weakness and
imbalance and this is known as “Upper Cross Syndrome” – one of the most common
problems I encounter in my clinic!
If you do have to sit at a desk all day, take
“microbreaks” every 15-20 minutes. Stand up and stretch, go for a short walk
around your office, etc. Studies have shown that people who take these
microbreaks are 21% less likely to suffer from neck and shoulder pain. For the
proper ergonomic desk set-up, see the image below. You can also ask your
chiropractor to come to your office for a workplace ergonomic evaluation. This
will ensure that you (and your colleagues) are sitting in the optimal position
for ongoing spinal health.
Texting:
Discomfort and muscle pain from texting has become so
common that it now has a name: “Text Neck”. Especially common in younger people
and those in professional office settings, text neck is becoming a real problem
and I am seeing it more and more in my clinic. Think about it: you are walking
down the street and your phone “dings” that you have a new text message. Grab
your phone and start typing. STOP and evaluate your posture. Your neck is
probably hanging way down – so much so that your chin is nearing your chest.
Excessive texting habits will not only lead to neck pain, but headaches,
shoulder pain, arm and hand pain are very common symptoms as well. Dr. Dean
Fishman of the Text-neck institute describes this problem as: “a repetitive stress injury to the body from
using hand held mobile devices such as mobile phones, portable gaming units,
MP3 players, e-readers and the like”. The biggest problem with this is that the
younger text-hungry generations are showing up in chiropractic offices with
postural irregularities, early spinal degeneration and curve reversal.
Carrying a Purse or Computer Bag:
The oversized handbag and briefcase is really in style these days!
What’s not in style? The back, neck and shoulder pain they can leave you with!
Shop strategically for your handbags:
1.
Feel the weight of the bag first: You should not
carry more than 10% of your body weight, so starting off with a heavy bag when
empty is not a good start!
2.
Get a bag with a handle or with a cross-body strap
(which happens to be very fashionable these days, lucky us!). The long strap
shoulder bags pull you to one side and bump against your hip, causing you to perform a balancing act
that leads to hiking the shoulder up to keep it in place. If you must carry a
bag with a long shoulder strap, switch sides often to avoid excessive
asymmetrical stress.
3. Carry only the essentials or take a smaller purse!
The larger the bag, the more we can carry in it – although this sounds
wonderful, your back may feel differently. If you are going out to the grocery
store, take your wallet, keys, sunglasses – leave the water bottle, laptop, and
any other accessories that you truly don’t need. The extras just add to the
weight of the bag which increases the stress on your spine.
