As the illustration shows, many computer workers tend to develop “computer neck.” Much of our neck pain, especially as online entrepreneurs, is caused by a forward head tilt. The weight of your head on your neck increases by 10 pounds for every inch that your head moves forward. So if you move your head forward toward your monitor or keyboard just 3 inches, your head weight is increased by 30 pounds.
This “computer neck” or forward head tilt causes a great deal of head and shoulder tension and pain such as migraine headaches, tension headaches or neck pain. When we add to our computer time poor head position while driving, poor sleeping position, reading,
or even lying on the couch our chances of neck strain increase significantly.
Stretching of the spinal cord can even result in poor health in the forms of fibromyalgia, myofacial pain syndrome, temporomandibular joint dysfunction and chronic fatigue syndromes. Although those seem quite extreme, arthritis in the neck can easily be caused by faster than normal deterioration in those discs.
Awareness of the problem is always the first step in searching for solutions. How can you check whether your next has adopted the forward head tilt as its natural postion? Try this self test:
Stand with the back of your head touching a wall with your heels placed about 6 inches away from the wall. Your bottom should be touching the wall. Using your hand, you can then check the distance between your neck and the wall. Your neck should be within two inches from the wall to be close to having good posture. More distance than that means that your neck posture is protruding forward and may deteriorate the joints and discs.
The initial reaction to pain is usually to take a “pill” to relieve the pain. That may work short term, but what about all the side effects of pharmaceuticals? Also, even when the pain is gone, the deterioration from the poor position of the neck and head continues and the pain will just come back again. Correction seems to be a better alternative even if you are using pills to alleviate the pain during the corrective process. The spine can be retrained to the correct position just like the teeth are when an orthodontist puts braces on them. Become free from neck pain without drugs.
Neck exercises are a great way to start correcting your poor neck posture. One is pulling your head over your shoulder (first left then right using the right hand to pull over the right shoulder and the left hand to pull over the left shoulder) while squeezing the shoulder blades together. It is a good idea to stop what you are working on, take a short break for even one minute, and perform this exercise at least every hour or so.
The correct placement for your computer monitor is so that the monitor is 18-24 inches from your face and the top third of the screen is even wit your eyes. Keep your feet flat on the floor in front of you. Use a headset when you are talking on the phone at the same time you are on the computer. Placing a phone between your head and shoulder will soon cause pain from the strain. If necessary, get a pair of glasses with the correct lens for computer use. Bifocals tend to cause “head tilt.”
A back support pillow is recommended when you are sitting or driving because when the back is supported, your head and neck will move back over your shoulders.
Corrective pillows called cervical linear traction neck pillows can be used while sleeping to help return the neck and spine to the normal neck curve. This used with a car back support, seated shoulder & back support, attention to correct posture, and the other suggestions above should provide you with relief from pain and better neck posture over time.
Good posture tips on how to check your neck posture. This is a good neck exercise to do at the desk or just sitting in general: Chin Tucks.
Thanks so much for this post Judy. I do have neck problems as a result of a car accident last year which I am sure the computer does not help. Do you think the pillow will also help me sleep better. It would be great to take care of two problems with one pillow. I know you can’t guarantee that the pillow will fix anything, just wondering if it helps with sleep in general.
Linette, In answer to your “pillow” question, I thing it would possibly enhance your sleeping, but things work differently for everyone. If your neck alignment is not correct, it certainly would help that issue and then possibly your sleep. That would depend also on whether there were other contributing factors to your sleeplessness (like stress?) and those may need to be addressed also.
[...] 6. Check your posture. [...]
i might not have decided this had been trendy two or three years ago but yet its surprising how age shifts the manner you perceive various creative concepts, many thanks for the post it happens to be good to see something clever once in a while instead of the common rubbish mascarading as information sites on the net, i’m off to take up a couple of rounds of zynga poker, cheers
Thanks. Thanks for posting this. Its always cool to see someone educate the world.
I spend far too much time on the computer and as a result I spend far to much money on massages. Maybe it’s time for a pair of “computer glasses”? I’ve always felt silly thinking about getting such things, but I’m getting desperate!