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Having Proper Posture can Aid in Neck Pain Relief
In the last few years computers have become a part of everyday life. This new age of high tech has come with its share of maladies: People whose jobs require them to sit for prolonged periods of time in one position- often at the computer. This type of a position can put a lot of stress on the cervical spine including tight muscles, stiff neck and other neck pain. Simply by adhering to a few rules about how to set up your workstation can make a big difference in having neck pain relief.
What Should be the Proper Position of Your Neck?
Sitting at a desk, interacting with a computer and telephone can put a lot of stress on your neck. We can combat certain postures, there would be a lot of happier people with less neck pain at the end of the day. When working at a computer desk keep in mind these two points about the position of your neck:
- You have a natural C curve in your neck- it is called a Lordotic curve. This curve should always be maintained. Not having the proper cervical curve can lead to chronic neck pain, stiff neck, upper shoulder stiffness and other symptoms.
- Your neck has an impressive flexibility to it- you are able to flex, extend, rotate and laterally flex- and you should give your neck the chance to be flexible. Movement is life and it is the same with then neck; if you don't rotate or turn your neck, it will stop turning- because you are not using the neck muscles natural ability to turn. If you are working at a computer, make sure you take multiple breaks so that you can move your head around and change position. This is very important to maintain neck flexibility. That is a reason why neck exercises are important and taking breaks (even for 10 seconds!).
Your workstation and optimal neck position go hand in hand
So you have to work right? So make your workstation as comfortable as you can. At the end of the day you will have minimal neck pain, and stiffness. Here are some key points for maintaining a no neck pain zone:
- Your chair: Make sure you have a ergonomic chair that has a good back support and neck support. Look for a thick padded seat, padded and adjustable arms, built in lumbar support, dual wheel casters so you can move around easily, pneumatic seat-height adjustment, ability to tilt the chair seat
- Your viewing distance: Make sure your viewing distance is 12-28 inches from the computer screen. Then you are not straining your neck muscles to see what you are typing
- Computer Screen Position: Make sure the top of the computer screen is slightly below eye level when you are sitting comfortably. Having a computer screen that is too low can put a lot of stress on your neck muscles contributing to strain and stiffness. Also tilt the computer screen slightly backwards. For most people their most comfortable neck position is when their normal line of sight is about 15 to 20 degrees below horizontal.
- Computer Screen Angle: The angle of the computer screen should be 10- 20 degrees
- Keyboard height: The height of the keyboard should be 23-28 inches from the floor surface.
- Leg Position: Your thighs should be horizontal.
Sitting with Good Posture at the Computer: Neck Pain Relief
Sitting at the computer for a long time equals neck pain and stiff neck if not done properly
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Neck Exercises and the Importance of Moving Your Neck
Our neck has the ability to flex forward, backward, turn and bend to the side. Pretty amazing !. Compared to the lower back, the neck has more range of motion: Lets compare range of motion in the cervical and lumbar spine:
| Cervical Spine | Lumbar spine |
Flexion
Bending forward | 80-90 degrees | 40-60 degrees |
Extension
Bending Backward | 70-90 degrees | 20-35 degrees |
| Lateral Bending | 45 degrees | 15-20 degrees |
| Rotation | 70-90 degrees | 3-18 degrees |
As you can see our cervical spine range of motion is far greater than the lumbar range of motion. The importance of moving your neck, and doing neck stretches can be emphasized enough. NeckPainReliefKit.com presents important neck exercises, so you can keep your cervical spine in the best shape possible.
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