If you are one of the people who sit in front of a desk all day doing work, then this article is for you. Undeniably you would have had neck pain at least once in your life, or all your life. It is a terrible pain to get through with, which doesn’t respond to your hand massages often. Taking pain killers for this is just going to tire your system out, and that’s why you probably pass them off as well. Sitting in front of a computer, hunching your back and staring into a screen is nowhere near healthy, and it can definitely hurt your muscles over your shoulders, neck and back over the long run. Listen up on how to tackle this problem to knock it off its root cause so that you don’t need to suffer again!
Sit up straight
From your mother till all your friends, everyone who has seen you hunching in front of a desk would have definitely passed this comment. As cliché as it sounds, this is the only and main solution to your neck and back pain problem. As easy as it sounds as an instruction, it definitely is not easy to keep at that position for a long period of time. Your mind slips in your work load and you would often forget to keep up your posture in about five minutes at the most.
Even when you keep constant reminders to keep you going, it would not be easy to sit up artificially straight for a long period of time. Tackle this with a different solution by making sure that you get up and take a short walk every once in a while when you have to desk work. This way you also give your eyes a break – that’s an added benefit for you.
Stretch more than you feel like doing it
Do not underestimate the relief that stretching gives you – it does not only literally stretch your muscles, but it also gets you to keep up a good posture as mentioned above. Keeping up at a good habit of stretching often makes an 80 year old feel as young as a 40 year old. Get your whole body in action and stretch your limbs along with your trunk and back. To make it even more relaxing and effective, Google up some stretching exercises for yourself to set yourself into a routine. Also get yourself to take deep breaths in and out while you are stretching – this can help you calm your head and get you back into work with a clearer mind.
Keep your elbows close to your body
Without ourselves realizing, many times when we are doing work, we tend to stretch our elbows to the opposite extremes of our vision. Be it when we are typing something on the computer, or writing out something, our elbows tend to be placed far apart from each other. As simple and weird as this sound, try to keep your elbows together when you do work. This automatically sets your posture in the right shape. When your elbows are kept near each other and close to your body, you tend to relax your shoulder and back muscles to lose their tense and to naturally relax. This would help you prevent your muscles from cramping up and causing pain over the day.
Despite all these simple tricks that you may employ, due to long term working with a bad posture, you might suffer from recurrent back and neck pains which are hard to avoid and hard to handle. If you are facing such a problem, consult your chiropractor right away so that they can help you engage in appropriate treatment which can relieve that pain and discomfort for you.