Daily Habits and Activities That Cause Neck Pain
In addition to practicing pandiculation exercises on a regular basis, you need to become aware of what daily habits might be contributing to your neck pain. While these may seem obvious, if you have chronic neck tension and pain it’s likely that one or more activities that you do on a daily basis are helping to keep you in pain. You don’t need to stop doing these activities—you just need to adjust your body use when you do them.
Working at a computer: If your job involves computer work, you likely feel the effects of it in your neck and shoulders. Working at a computer involves inwardly rotating your shoulders and bringing your arms forward, more so on one side when you use a mouse. It’s also very easy to adopt forward head posture or rounded posture if you tend to lean in toward the computer screen. Zoom into what you’re looking at so that you don’t have to lean forward, and adjust your chair, desk, keyboard and screen position so that you can sit in the most neutral position possible.
In addition to practicing Clinical Somatics exercises to release your tight muscles, you should check in with yourself every few minutes and relax your abdominals, chest, and shoulders. Don’t contract your back muscles and force yourself to sit up straight; instead, relax your abdominals and allow yourself to sit up straight. Likewise, don’t pull your shoulders backward; relax your chest and shoulders and allow your chest to open up and your shoulders to relax back.
Using your phone: Looking downward at your phone for hours a day will inevitably lead to forward head posture and neck pain; this is why we see more and more teenagers with forward head posture. The simplest ways to avoid this are: use your phone less, and/or find a way to hold your phone so that you don’t have to look downward. When using your phone, take frequent breaks to lift your head up and relax into a straight, upright posture.
If you talk on the phone a lot, put it on speaker or use a headset or earpiece so that you don’t have to hold the phone to your ear. Holding the phone to your ear for long periods of time will lead to chronic tightness on one side of your neck, and likely in that shoulder as well.
Driving: When you’re driving, notice your posture. Do you lean forward or crane your head and neck forward? Do you lean to one side? Are you tense? Do your best to relax your abdominals, chest, shoulders, and neck as described in the computer work section. Adjust your headrest to the most comfortable position, and try to use both arms evenly to control the steering wheel.
Holding something on one side: We tend to carry things like a purse, a backpack, or a baby on the same side all the time. Not only does this lead to tight neck and shoulder muscles, but these simple habits can even lead to side-bending postural patterns like functional leg length discrepancy. Try holding your bag or your child on the opposite side, and notice how it feels. Alternate sides as much as possible, even if it feels awkward in the beginning.
Sleeping: The position you sleep in has a big impact on your neck muscles. If you sleep on your stomach, you’re spending 6-8 hours per night with your head turned to the side. If you sleep on your side and your spine is out of alignment, your head will be tilted to one side all night. If you sleep on your back with a pillow, you’re spending 6-8 hours per night in forward head posture.
The best sleeping positions to reduce neck pain are:
- On your back with no pillow: If this is not comfortable, do all of the Arch & Curl variations on a regular basis to release your abdominals, and gradually reduce the thickness of your pillow. If your lower back is not comfortable when lying on your back, do the Back Lift on a regular basis, and put a pillow under your knees when you sleep on your back.
- On your side with your spine in alignment: Your mattress should allow your shoulder and hip to sink in enough that your spine remains straight when lying on your side. Too firm or too soft a mattress will move your spine out of alignment. Your pillow should support your head and neck so that your cervical spine is straight.