Using Technology to Get You Healthier

At some point in their lives, almost everybody will go through a bout of neck pain, and as long as this is temporary, it's usually nothing to worry about. However, sometimes it can be noticeable and will seem to hang around and, in this case, it could be something to do with your lifestyle. How can you figure out what's going wrong here and what should you do to return to normal?

Are You Sitting Properly?

An increasing number of people are spending hours of their day, every day, tapping away at their keyboard. This relatively simple task can, however, lead to significant and potentially long-term issues if you're not careful. Consequently, this is where you should start if you have a neck pain and you should take a close look at your sitting position.

What Are You Looking at?

If you're at your desk now and reading a blog post, are your eyes pointing towards the centre of the screen? If not, this could be part of the issue and you should adjust the position of the monitor until they are. If you're working on a laptop and this is on a typical desk surface, then you may have to put the machine on top of something in order to arrive at the correct position. Believe it or not, this is the primary cause of neck pain in the work environment.

Mouse Tail

Next, what is your relationship like with your Bluetooth mouse? Consider your forearm as the tail of the mouse and it should drop off the edge of the mouse pad and down towards your side. Compare this with the usual position if you have a tendency to rest your elbow on the arm of your chair instead. This will put a strain on the top of your shoulders and will lead to neck and shoulder issues.

Special Cushion

You may also find it helpful to sit on a stability cushion that you can simply add to your existing chair. This type of seating aid tends to add a bit of flexibility to your movement and will help to make sure that you are not in one sedentary position through each shift.

Get up and Move Around

Finally, get out of that seating position as often as you can. Download a timer for your desktop and set it to sound an audible alarm every 90 minutes. This should be your trigger to get up and move around, even if it's only for a short amount of time.

Remaining Issues

If these changes do not make any difference and you are still suffering from neck pain, schedule a call to your physiotherapist for their help.