Do you often feel an aching or stiffness in your neck during or after work? Do your neck muscles feel sore, tight and tense? If so, your computer (or actually how you use it) could be to blame!
Our Fareham chiropractor recommends that all office workers make themselves aware of the proper way to sit at a computer. Implementing this knowledge into your working day could just save you from developing chronic neck pain.
Put simply, neck pain can be caused by any activity that puts extra strain on your neck. Depending on the activity you’re doing and the position of your spine at the time, you may feel pain at the base of your skull, your shoulders or as a knot in your neck. If you’re like many of the patients we treat, your neck pain will often intensify; limiting your ability to move your neck and hindering your work.
Neck pain is certainly not something that should be dismissed as one of those everyday aches and niggles. A healthy spine should not cause such frequent symptoms.
If your neck pain starts or worsens when you’re at work, you should consider the possible reasons why. Most often, repetitive and continued work-related activities that negatively affect your neck muscles, ligaments, and tendons, are to blame for neck pain and stiffness.
If any of the following are what you do, your working habits could just be the cause of or putting you at risk of neck pain
- Bending over a desk for hours
- Holding your mobile phone between your bent neck and shoulder
- Bending your head forward to read a computer screen
- Sitting at a computer for a prolonged period of time
- Working from a monitor/ screen that is either too high or too low
Fortunately, neck pain is easy enough to avoid by implementing some simple, sensible actions.
Here our Fareham chiropractor provides some effective tips on how to safeguard your neck while at work:
1: Adjust Your Workstation
Arrange your chair so that your monitor is at eye level and directly in front of you. Your arms should reach your keyboard comfortably and your elbows should be parallel to the ground.
If you need to bend your head to read the computer screen, your monitor is too low. If you need to tilt your head back to read it, your monitor is too high.
2: Wear a Headset
Madonna may have started a trend in the eighties with her microphone wearing performances (yes, we remember, unfortunately) but today, headsets are an essential part of office kit. You can protect your neck by wearing a headset if you’re likely to be multitasking during a phone call or your job requires you to make or receive frequent calls.
3: Stop and Stretch
No matter how perfect your office-chair posture is, you are unlikely to dodge the peril of neck pain if you don’t take regular breaks.
Relax your arms, roll your shoulders in a circular motion, and gently roll your head from side to side. This will help to loosen up those tense neck muscles.
Our experienced team of chiropractors at Homewood are here to help and advise you on all aspects to do with you and your family’s back and neck pain.
For friendly advice or to book an appointment, contact us today on 01329 280 283 or email frontdesk@homewoodchiropractic.co.uk
Our Experience Counts: 55 Years in Fareham
Serving the people of Fareham, and surrounding areas of Southampton, Portsmouth, Hampshire and the local areas of Whiteley, Hedge End, Locks Heath & Portchester
