Neck pain associated with working at a computer. What to do when your neck hurts while sitting at the computer: simple ways Neck hurts when sitting at the computer
In the modern computerized world, where people increasingly work at computers, sit on a chair all day, conduct sedentary image life, problems with the spine arise more and more often. This could be pain in the neck, pain between the shoulder blades or pain under the shoulder blade on one side, pain in the lower back, or even pain that radiates to the leg. Symptoms, causes and consequences may vary. The diagnoses that doctors make also differ. Treatment of back pain has several basic points that need to be understood not only by the doctor, but also by the patient.
Why does back pain occur?
When you sit at a computer or just at a desk all day, your back muscles are tense. Spasms and tone disturbances occur. This, in turn, can lead to disorders not only at the muscle level, but also to neurological symptoms (when pain radiates along the limbs). It should also be understood that intervertebral discs are nourished by diffusion. This requires movement. And a condition when there is no load on the spine, and the body does not change its position for a long time, leads to the fact that the nutrition of the intervertebral discs deteriorates, their structure is disrupted, which sooner or later can lead to the development of intervertebral hernias and protrusions of the intervertebral discs.
What to do if your neck hurts?
Let's consider three fundamentally different options.
If neck pain occurs due to an acute injury: a fall, a blow, any other forceful impact (for example, diving or hitting the bottom of a reservoir or the surface of the water), and this begins to be accompanied by a feeling of numbness in the body, arms and legs, impaired movement, then it is necessary to urgently call an ambulance. When communicating with the operator, it is necessary to report the time of injury, circumstances, and patient complaints. While waiting for an ambulance, the main thing is not to move the victim from place to place, immobilize him as much as possible, and fix his neck. Upon arrival, the ambulance doctor will fix the cervical spine with a special clamp. After taking the photo cervical spine spine, it will be clear whether there is damage to the cervical vertebrae or not. Diagnosis and treatment are carried out by a neurosurgeon or orthopedist-traumatologist.
Second option, which is not accompanied by injury to the cervical spine, but most often occurs against the background of hypothermia. Moreover, this may not be a one-time exposure to low temperature (for example, a dip in an ice hole), but rather a long period of sitting in a draft, near an open window. Such factors often lead to neuritis. People say, “I have a cold in my neck.” Treatment tactics will also differ; it is dealt with by a neurologist. The basis of treatment: the use of anti-inflammatory drugs, often in the form of injections, the use of physiotherapeutic treatment (warming, magnetic therapy, laser therapy).
Third option– these are neck pains that occur as a result of being in an uncomfortable position (sitting for a long time at a computer, sleeping on an uncomfortable bed, on a high pillow, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, standing for a long time, without being able to walk). These are all very common situations. But you need to understand that the reasons, and therefore the treatment tactics, will differ markedly. In this case, virtually no inflammation occurs. This is why anti-inflammatory pills and injections are not needed. (They may relieve the pain, but they will not eliminate the cause.) The cause of such neck pain lies in biomechanical processes: the position of the vertebra, the position of the ligamentous apparatus, muscle tone. This is where the pain comes from. Accordingly, they can only be eliminated through the same MECHANICAL action.
Manual treatment of pain in the neck and other parts of the spine
Mechanical effects on the human body underlie all manual medicine (“manus” means “hand”). That is - this is everything that a doctor can do with his hands, without exposure to chemical or other physical (heat, radiation, current) influences. Manual therapy is definitely justified if the pain is not due to injury. Moreover, you need to start not with a massage, as everyone is accustomed to thinking, but with consultation and correction with a chiropractor. Only he will be able to identify in which segment the cause of back pain, how much muscle tone is impaired and how exactly this problem needs to be eliminated. Most often, one or two sessions are needed to correct the spine and eliminate back pain. And then, if desired, you can begin massage and physical therapy sessions.
Moreover, it needs to move up and down, sideways and backwards. However, when working at a computer, we are constantly forced to look directly at the screen to see tiny flickering letters - when we turn our heads, we risk missing something important. The head should be fixed, and the neck should not make absolutely any movements, even during breathing. This creates incredible stress on the joints of the spine.
If you sit in the same position for too long without changing the position of your head, the joints that are naturally supposed to constantly move become rough.
Working at a computer for a long time inevitably leads to hardening of the joints. Moreover, the head needs to maintain a stable position, because with any movement the eyes can lose focus. So it turns out that the neck muscles are constantly tense, along with the muscles of the shoulders and upper back. Even the lower back muscles are subject to additional stress, which can affect the movement of the torso. However, now we are most interested in neck muscle tension.
So, in addition to the need to maintain an upright posture, which is the responsibility of precise postural muscles, the brain also forces us to keep our eyes on the screen. So numerous spasms appear in the neck area.
If you hold your neck in a similar position for many hours every day, then unfavorable conditions are created for gas exchange in the tissues, as well as for the removal of accumulated lactic acid, especially when working in indoors, where the access of oxygen is limited and the oxidation of waste by-products is extremely difficult. As a result, a large amount of lactic acid accumulates, not to mention the overstrain of the eye muscles (among them there are six different groups), because the eyes have to constantly focus on an object that is located at the same distance from the head.
In a situation where the muscles of the eyes and neck themselves are overly strained, and even the next project needs to be completed on time, stress leads to even greater tension. This type of work is one of the most unhealthy activities. Much more harmful than bungee jumping.
You might think that driving a car is no better in this sense. However, the person sitting behind the wheel constantly looks at the rear and side mirrors, due to which both the focus of the eyes and the position of the head change. The driving process is almost completely automatic. When you press on the gas or brake pedal, you don't have to give conscious commands to your legs, you don't have to think for it. Driving is one of the most difficult automatic skills that can be taught to a person. But on a wide highway, where most drivers still try to follow the established rules, you can relax a little.
Knitting is also an automatic process that actively engages the motor centers of the brain. Yes, it involves repetitive hand movements, but you can simultaneously move your head and talk. Your neck is not fixed in one position. Crocheting or embroidering are perhaps more similar to computer work in this regard. As well as prolonged reading: even reading while lying in bed leads to overstrain of the neck muscles. Moreover, if you just lie on the sofa or bed, then the neck muscles can remain tense.
However, when you are engaged in all of the listed activities, the subconscious mind more or less controls the situation. But the same cannot be said about working at a computer. In addition, the additional stress associated with the need to ensure that mistakes are not made. Even just chatting on the Internet, you must constantly be prepared for new letters to appear on the screen. If you work in a bank or trade on the stock exchange, you cannot afford a single mistake. Your duties must be performed flawlessly. One tiny inaccuracy - and the authorities will certainly find out whose fault it was. The weight of responsibility can be truly unbearable. Computers are a noose around the neck of humanity.
Long-term misuse of the neck can lead to degenerative damage to the intervertebral discs and, later, to degeneration of the joint joints. But both problems can be easily avoided.
Treatment of neck pain associated with computer work
If you spend at least six hours a day at the computer, then you should massage your neck area, if not daily, then at least every other day. It is recommended to massage the muscles of the jaw, temples and neck muscles yourself. This must be done regularly - there is no other option. IN otherwise problems will inevitably accumulate. Panic attacks, neck pain and severe stress occur, all because the neck muscles are too tense. The vertebral arteries become compressed, which contributes to the development of Ali syndrome. If you work at a computer, you must constantly engage in prevention.
Such pain, as a rule, is not associated with pinched nerves, but is rather spondylytic in nature - this is muscle pain that occurs due to muscle strain. Most often, while swimming or doing simple exercises, the muscles relax and the pain goes away. However, when it appears, you need to take preventive or therapeutic measures, since sometimes massage of the local area does not help get rid of tension and chronic neck pain develops, interfering with normal sleep. The principle here is the same: you toss and turn in bed, and every time you think about something unpleasant, the neck muscles seize into a prolonged spasm, as a result of which the access of blood and oxygen to the muscle tissue decreases.
Let me emphasize: tension in the neck muscles in this case is associated primarily with the accumulation of lactic acid. Remember that moving your head does not necessarily prevent your eyes from focusing on the screen. Eye muscles act coherently enough to cope with this task. Thus, slight movements of the head while working at the computer allow both the neck and eyes to constantly move. This approach, of course, does not guarantee complete relief from the problem, nor will it be a worthy alternative to the treatment prescribed by a doctor, but it is still very useful.
If you sit at the computer for a long time with your head forward, or lower it while looking at your smartphone, your neck muscles have a hard time. Constant tension causes stiffness and pain.
Life hacker collected exercises Yoga for chronic neck pain: a pilot randomized controlled clinical trial. , Yoga for Chronic Neck Pain: A 12-Month Follow-Up to stretch and strengthen the neck, shoulders and chest, which will relieve pain and help avoid it in the future.
When training doesn't help
This complex is not designed to treat specific disorders. If you have been diagnosed with osteochondrosis, herniated discs or other diseases, gymnastics should be prescribed by a doctor.
If the pain does not stop for several days, increases, or is accompanied by headaches, nausea, fever, seek medical help as soon as possible.
What exercises to do
The complex consists of two parts: simple exercises on stretching and strengthening muscles and safe yoga asanas.
Exercise at least three times a week, or better yet, every day.
If pain occurs, stop immediately. After the exercise, the area being stretched should feel relaxed and soft.
How to do stretching and strengthening exercises for your neck and shoulder muscles
You will need a chair. Sit on the edge, straighten your back, lower and straighten your shoulders. Do each exercise for 10–15 seconds.
1. Turns and tilts
13. Moving your hands behind your head
Take the towel by the ends, pull it taut and move your arms straight up. Serve top part body forward and move your straight arms with the towel further behind your head.
How to do yoga exercises
Follow the rules carefully and do not hold your breath. Maintain each pose for 30 seconds.
1. Half forward bend with emphasis on the wall (simplified uttanasana)
Stand straight, two steps away from the wall, facing it. Place your feet hip-width apart for comfort. From this position, bend over hip joint and lean forward with a straight back to a 90° angle between the body and legs. Place your hands on the wall.
Try to straighten and stretch as much as possible. Hold the pose for 20–30 seconds.
2. Warrior Pose II (Virabhadrasana)
Stand up straight, spread your legs wide, point your toes forward, raise your arms to the sides, connect and straighten your fingers.
Turn your right foot 90° to the right. Bend right leg in the knee to a right angle or close to it, move the left one back. Distribute your weight between both legs.
Twist your pelvis, stretch your back, lower your shoulders. Try to open your pelvis and chest. Repeat the pose on both sides.
3. Twisting (bharavajasana)
Sit on the floor, bend your right leg at the knee, point your shin outward and place your heel next to your pelvis. Bend your left knee, place your left foot on your right thigh.
Distribute your weight between your two sitting bones and lengthen your spine upward. Place your right hand on your left knee and turn your body and head to the left, grab your left toe with your left hand. Repeat on the other side.
4. Child's pose
Get on all fours, bring your feet together, and then lower your pelvis onto your heels. Lean forward, straighten your back and extend your arms straight in front of you, touch your forehead to the floor and completely relax in this position.
Oh, these computers! There are problems with the eyes, and digestion and figure suffer from them. And sometimes the neck becomes so stiff that it cannot be turned or straightened. Let's, Dear friends, today we will deal with this scourge: what and how it hurts, what causes discomfort and, most importantly: what to do when your neck hurts while sitting at the computer?
If after several hours of sitting at the monitor there is severe pain in the neck, you still need to figure out whether there is a direct cause-and-effect relationship. It is possible that the source of the problem may lie elsewhere. The most common causes of the disease:
- Consequences of injuries;
- Neuritis due to hypothermia;
- Tension due to weakness of the musculoskeletal system.
Yes, most often the muscles and bone apparatus simply get tired from long-term static tension, especially if the position of the body and head is unnatural. But you still need to start by ruling out other options.
Perhaps the day before there was a fall, a blow, or other troubles that you did not immediately pay attention to, and then completely forgot about them. But the consequences remained, for example, in the form of a vertebral fracture or sprained ligaments. It is clear that in this case, the neck hurts when sitting at the computer, but treatment will be required differently than with other medical history. Only a doctor can understand the intricacies of diagnosis, and, most likely, with the help of hardware research methods.
Unpleasant sensations may appear after several hours of labor in a draft or after too much active rest in very fresh air the day before. The result: a “cold” neck, as we tell ourselves. And doctors call this condition neuritis. You will need anti-inflammatory drugs (injections or tablets, ointments), as well as a variety of physical therapy methods.
The third (of the most common) options: your neck hurts from the computer, or rather, not directly from it, but due to prolonged incorrect body position while working. More about it below.
We are all a bit of an "accountant"
These characteristic symptoms were called “accountant’s withers” in the old days. Now, at a time of widespread computerization, most office employees have problems with the neck, shoulders, in combination with tension in the back of the head and related syndromes. These are truly the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle.
Static loads, lack of mobility, constant tilt of the head towards the monitor cause muscle spasms. And also deformation of intervertebral discs. The matter is complicated by compression of nerves and blood vessels; this alone provokes quite severe discomfort.
In fact, this is the same osteochondrosis that a good half of the country’s working population complains about. If measures are not taken in time, the pathology progresses. Degenerative-dystrophic changes are also accompanied by a hernia, sometimes more than one.
How does this happen? After cracks form in the intervertebral discs, part of the nucleus pulposus falls into these “clefts.” This formation is infringed upon movement, naturally causing pain. They vary in degree of intensity and localization.
If we do not consult a doctor, but go, for example, to a familiar chiropractor, we can cause irreparable harm to our spine. The hernia should not be heated or vigorously massaged; this is dangerous and can lead to disability. Therefore, if self-medication is possible, it is only after a clear medical diagnosis has been made.
How to avoid neck pain
It is clear that it is better not to let it get to a point where it becomes impossible to turn your head. Prevention of osteochondrosis and other cervical problems is quite simple. Simple gymnastics in the morning, small warm-ups every hour at work. Control of posture while working plus five minutes of available movements per hour - and we will avoid complications “on our neck”.
The ideal after-work activity is swimming or shaping. Just walk a couple of kilometers and turn your head often, studying the environment. You can’t see any details from the window of a car or bus; life really flies by.
Let's say you are a very busy person or simply don’t like to exercise in public. No problem: the neck muscles can be stretched and strengthened at home, both before and after a working day.
There are the simplest exercises available both at home and in the office. You can stretch the muscles slightly by lowering your chin, and then tilting your head to your shoulders, to one side or the other. Then we stretch our neck “goose-like”, after each movement we relax it, allowing it to “shrink” freely, under the weight of the head. Massage your neck with movements reminiscent of “kneading” dough. Then do the same with the shoulders.
Rub the back of your head, its occipital part and the junction with the neck. It’s good if one of your relatives or colleagues helps with this, but you can easily cope on your own. Finally, turn your head to the sides and circular movements clockwise and counterclockwise. Just be careful, especially if there are problems with blood vessels!
Also watch a short video in which Alexandra Bonina talks about basic exercises for exacerbation of cervical osteochondrosis.
Benefits, nuances and contraindications of neck massage
Much has been said about the benefits of massage, and they are undeniable. But the neck, or as they say otherwise, collar area, including adjacent areas of the body, is a special “territory”. The most important vessels feeding the brain pass through here. This is why neck massage requires extreme care and caution. But if you do it yourself, you are unlikely to overdo it.
Even in this case, it is worth studying the list of contraindications, and these are:
- Arterial hypertension;
- Diseases of the heart and blood vessels;
- Oncological pathologies;
- Joint diseases during exacerbation;
- Alcohol (or drug) intoxication;
- Quincke's edema, other types of allergic reactions;
- Skin problems in areas to be massaged;
- Late pregnancy.
Neck massage in the absence of these problems will not only relieve muscle fatigue, but will also treat headaches, which often accompany static body tension. If it is not possible to perform the procedure while lying down, you can sit on a chair “back to front”, pressing your chest to the back. Tilt your head down, then the most problem areas open up, they become easier to work through.
We stroke the neck and shoulders, rub, and tap with our fingertips. We perform circular movements, kneading with the edge of the palm. We are especially gentle with the muscles directly adjacent to the spine in the cervical region. You can finish by rubbing it with honey. This way we improve blood supply to this area and allow the muscles to relax. The pain goes away automatically.
To summarize, let’s say that a sedentary lifestyle can and should be transformed into a more dynamic one. With this we will solve several problems at once, including getting rid of discomfort in the neck-shoulder area. Read the site, recommend it to your friends, stock up on good advice and positivity. See you again!
Do you complain about constant headaches? The reason may be your favorite chair. Has your vision deteriorated? The relationship is the same, albeit slow, but direct. Moreover, the comfort and anatomy of the chair will not count towards the test.
“Comfort is a largely conditional concept,” says our expert, Osteopathic doctor Boris Protasov.- Comfortable does not always mean correct. It’s important to find the middle ground between correctness and comfort.”
Light at the end of tunnel syndrome
The search for this golden mean is always individual. More and more professions are related to sedentary life. This means attention not only to the chair, but also to the table. And at the table - to your hands. They should neither sag between the chair and the table nor rise above them.
When performing long, monotonous sedentary work, a person will sooner or later encounter the so-called tunnel syndrome - disorders of the peripheral nervous system that are caused by pinched nerves in their natural canals-tunnels. Pain appears in the wrists, and the hands begin to go numb - right hand, which holds a computer mouse, or both at once, when a person hammers on the keyboard for hours. The reason is a kind of “suffocation” of the nerves in their natural “cases”. Least pain in the hands, as well as weakness and blurriness of their movements, a person cannot avoid.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is becoming more common in people professional activity which is associated with tension in individual muscle groups. The result is damage to the nerve roots and plexuses, as well as cranial and peripheral nerves.
How to avoid this? There are no clear algorithms. One person will be helped by the comfortable armrests of the work chair, allowing them to maintain a right angle of bend of the arm at the elbow. And the other one is used to keeping his elbows on the table. Criterion: arm bend angle is 90°, it should be adhered to.
Wrong chair?
After sitting for a long time, a person should not feel tired. If your neck becomes stiff, tension appears in the muscles of the back and lower back, this is a clear signal: you need to urgently correct the situation.
Moreover, this is not yet a reason to run for expensive “anatomical” furniture. If a person sometimes says that a given particular chair or armchair is made as if it was for him, then first of all he notes that, voluntarily or unwittingly, he chose furniture that was convenient for him.
“Alas, more often than not, comfortable furniture is chosen involuntarily,” says Boris Protasov. - And this should be the result of an analysis of your feelings. The result of a search and proper placement of surrounding objects.”
The simplest example: if a person is used to sitting too low, his head also gets used to being thrown back. As a result, cervical lordosis occurs. Lordosis can also be caused by a TV screen or computer monitor installed too high.
From posture problems to neurology
And the price of lordosis? The cervical arteries are located in the neck, supplying oxygen to the brain and ensuring the outflow of blood. With our habitually incorrect posture, we create for ourselves, firstly, those same headaches - migraines. This is followed by a gradual deterioration of vision. Apotheosis - retinal detachment. In any case, by sitting too low, we create problems with intracranial pressure. By the way, the “mirror situation”, when a person sits too high, leads to kyphosis, which is commonly called stooping. A stooped man with his incorrect position at the table “pinches” the chest and creates problems with breathing and lungs. By choosing the wrong furniture, we create neurological problems. The spine is like a case that protects the spinal cord, which, in turn, controls the secondary autonomic nervous system. It is this “periphery” that is responsible for those questions that we do not think about: “How do we breathe? How do we maintain body temperature? Why are we sweating?" It can take a long time to explain the relationship between an incorrectly selected table, chair and general condition. Isn’t it easier to eliminate errors at the very beginning, guided by the principle “convenient - not convenient”?
Landing rules
"By organizing workplace and a relaxation area, you need to focus on the state of the body, our expert is sure. - If you come home from work and your neck hurts, tomorrow be sure to understand that the workplace is not organized correctly. If at home, while resting, you get up with an even heavier body, see if everything is comfortable for you. Do you constantly watch TV with your head turned halfway? Expect problems."
A lounge chair should not only be comfortable, but convenient. It is important to look at the position of the legs here. In a “sinking” chair, a person must stretch his legs. So comfortable for the joints. But in the end the knees are high. But it would be correct if the legs were bent at a right angle. It will be easier to stand up, and the skeleton will not experience additional stress. Support for the back and head is also desirable in an armchair or the back of a sofa.
You also need to sit properly behind the wheel. For example, if the driver is leaning back in his seat, then he should stretch his arms forward so that his hands hang from the steering wheel. Your arms should be bent. You cannot drive a car with your arms outstretched. This will lead to rapid fatigue.
