Saturday 12th October
This week we are talking about neck pain!
A huge figure of 70-75% of us will experience neck pain at some point in our lives. These studies have also shown that out of this percentage, 1 in 5 individuals have neck pain RIGHT NOW.
While anyone can be susceptible to developing acute or chronic neck pain, according to recent research there are some professionals who seem to be more likely affected. These professional groups are:
One thing that all these workers have in common, possibly causing some neck pain, is postural factors.
Text Neck is the modern name given for the increasing number of neck issues that are arising due to people looking down at their phone. When we look down at our phones that we are holding in our hands, the weight of the head can become an issue. When we stand or sit in good posture, the head which weights 10-12 pounds (4.5-5.4kg), is in a neutral position.
In this position, the body can easily cope with the weight of the head and its movements. When we look down at our phone, we commonly have a 45–60-degree angle in the neck. This causes the weight of the head to be magnified to 50-60 pounds (22.6-27.2 kg) of force on the neck… which is a HUGE amount!
The easiest way to help avoid this, is to lift your phone up with your arms to eye height.
Often when we are looking at a screen, for example a computer screen, we end up slouched over and looking down at our screen as we sit there for hours concentrating. When we have our heads in this position, it creates a lot of added stress for our neck. The muscles, joints and discs in the neck have to work harder to hold your neck, which can cause issues.
When you sit ready to work on your computer, with your eyes closed, get yourself comfortable in your chair sat upright with a straight spine. When you open your eyes, your gaze should be at the top third of the screen you are looking at. If not, you need to raise your screen. If you are on a laptop, getting a separate screen can be very handy here. Sitting in a chair with a headrest can also be very beneficial.
Poor posture can affect you even when you are standing and sitting throughout your daily life. The most common change in posture that can affect your neck and possibly cause you pain, is the forward head position. With this, rather than having an upright posture where the ears are in line with the shoulders, the head travels forward so the ears sit a lot further forward than the shoulders. To compensate for this, it is common to see rounding of the upper back and rounding of the shoulders.
Bags and purses that are most common for day-to-day use, are bags carried on one shoulder. Even if people are using backpacks, it is not unusual to see them using it only on one shoulder. While carrying it for 30 minutes like this may not seem an issue, have you considered what this could add up to in one year? Just 30 minutes a day adds up to over 180 hours in a year. Imagine doing anything one sided for 180 hours and there will be some notable changes.
There are a few ways that you can change this habit. One, is to reduce the load in the bag you are carrying. Only take the essentials and carry a lighter load. The second, slight harder change you can focus on, is to make sure you keep your shoulders level when carrying a bag on one side. The third, is to use a backpack! You would be surprised how many fashionable backpacks you can get nowadays! Distributing the weight across both shoulders can really reduce the strain that your neck has to take.
