The Misery Of Office Chair Neck Pain: 6 Simple Tips To Avoid It

The Misery Of Neck Pain In An Office Chair

If you work long hours in an office chair chances are you will suffer neck pain at some stage, in fact for many people it’s a constant problem.

Why does this happen and what can you do to minimize and avoid it?

To a large extent neck and shoulder pain in the office is the result of a number of bad habits as well as not taking simple avoidance measures.

Without realizing it they creep up on us and inflict pain, in fact left unchecked these painful experiences can develop into more serious problems involving disc and vertebrae damage.

Lack of movement is one of the biggest causes of neck discomfort. You sit working away at something and become immersed in it and without realizing it you have been staring at your screen for the past hour without moving your head at all. As a result neck and shoulder muscles end up inactive and so start to tire and ache.

And if you continue long enough those muscles really start aching and remind you it’s time to move them.

It’s hardly surprising. When you consider the human head weighs between 8 and 12 pounds, imagine holding a weight like that in your hands without moving your arms, it wouldn’t be long before your arms started aching would it?

Simply being aware of your body and making sure to move your head from side to side regularly will help reduce discomfort.

Craning your neck forwards is another major cause of neck pain. If you look around an office you will see people doing this all the time and it’s so easy to correct.

When people crane the head forwards it’s usually because their screen isn’t close enough. Observe yourself, are you doing this without realizing it? It’s very simple to fix, move your screen closer so you can read it comfortably without the need to lean forwards.

Cradling a phone between your head and shoulder is very bad for the neck, shoulder muscles and vertebrae too.

Yes, we often need to make notes while on a call and wedging your phone in this abnormal way is quick and easy. However it’s also very bad for you so look at alternatives, maybe using a speakerphone or if this is a problem what about a headset?

Get up out of your chair and take frequent short breaks. A simple change of posture at least once an hour will help keep those muscles more active and healthy.

Perform short exercise routines regularly throughout the day. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy, here are some ideas for quick office neck and shoulder exercises you can do.

Lastly, you may need to replace your office chair if it could be contributing to your neck problems. This is particularly true of chairs with fixed arms because the chances of those arms being in the right position aren’t that great.

Frequently you will find they force your arms upwards placing the shoulder muscles under stress. Adjustable arms allow proper support where your shoulders are in their natural relaxed position. Here is a quick summary of quality ergonomic office chairs which will give you great whole body support.

So let’s quickly summarize the key causes of neck and shoulder pain in the office and what you can do to help.

• Inactivity, staring at your screen for long periods, remember to move your head frequently
• Craning the neck forwards, simply adjusting screen position will cure this
• Cradling you phone between head and shoulder is a very bad habit, try hands-free or a headset
• Get up out of your chair and take frequent breaks
• Perform short simple exercise routines to keep muscles supple and toned
• Think about replacing your office chair if it’s not supporting you correctly