This Computer is a Pain in the Neck

As I sit at my computer, I’m reminded of the pain in my neck. No, that’s not a euphemism, I actually have pain in my neck from leaning over this laptop. I know that in these unprecedented times, most of us don’t have ergonomically adjustable kitchen tables while we work from home. That means we are probably sitting with less than optimum posture. The chair is probably too low and the table is probably too high. This forces our shoulders to elevate and round while our heads push forward and extend towards our monitor. Most of us know how to properly position ourselves at our workstation. We’ve been given guides and diagrams on the topic at work or school and we may have even taken a class (online of course). The bad news is, most of us don’t always follow this good advice and this results in an altered length and tension of our muscles, which pulls our skeletal system into poor posture. The good news is, there is something we can do about it.

Obviously, the first step is to practice good positioning at our workspace but we can also incorporate stretching exercises for our neck and chest, as well as strengthening exercises for our back. This will help realign our skeletal system and get our shoulders, head and neck into good postural alignment. Be sure to perform the stretching exercises with a gentle tension. You don’t want to stretch aggressively and cause an injury by forcing a muscle or joint too far beyond its current range of motion.

The first stretching exercise is for the back of the neck and will provide some relief if your levator scapulae & upper trapezius are tight and shortened due to sitting with your head in an extended position. This can happen from resting your arms on a desk or table that’s too high, which elevates the shoulders. A work surface that is too high can also cause your monitor to be too high, which will put your head in an extended position.

The next stretch is for the sternocleidomastoid muscle. We’ll just call it the SCM so I don’t have to keep typing sternocleidomastoid and wind up with an overuse injury in my hand. This muscle runs from just behind the ear to the clavicle. Because it wraps around the side and front of the neck, it can become tight when our head and neck are in a constant state of flexion from looking down at our phone or keyboard while typing.

Another stretch that you’ll want to do is for the chest and front of the shoulder. When sitting at a computer we tend to round our shoulders by leaning towards the monitor. This rounded position will shorten and tighten the pectoral and anterior deltoid muscles on the front of our torso, while lengthening and weakening the middle and lower trapezius muscles of our back. There are a few exercises we can do to correct this imbalance. The first is a common pectoral stretch. You’ve probably seen this one before and you can do it using the corner of a wall or the inside of a door jam.

Creating some flexibility by lengthening the muscles that are tight is only half of the equation. We also need to incorporate strengthening exercises for the opposing muscle groups. Making sure that the muscles on each side of the torso are at appropriate tensions creates appropriate alignment of the skeletal system for optimum posture. The first strengthening exercise is an inverted table row. You can use any sturdy table that will support your weight safely (use your discretion). Lie with your head and chest underneath the end of the table. Then, take hold of the top of the table with a reverse grip. Keep your body perfectly straight from your ankles all the way through your shoulders. Then, pull your body up and squeeze the shoulder blades together to focus the contraction on the muscles of your middle back.

If you find the table row difficult, another great exercise for the muscles of the middle back is a cobra. This exercise is performed lying prone (face down) on the floor with your arms at your sides. Personally, I feel more of a contraction in my back when I keep the back of my hand toward the ceiling, but you can vary your hand position. If you prefer, you can have your palms facing up instead. Now, stabilize your core by squeezing your glutes and drawing in your stomach. From this point you lift your chest off the floor slightly, while lifting your arms and squeezing the shoulder blades together. Keep your head in a neutral position by looking at the floor. A regression to this exercise is the standing cobra. With a slight bend in your knee, lean forward from the waist to about a 45 degree angle. Let you arms extend straight out from your shoulders and, with your arms straight, create an imaginary circle around your torso, bringing your arms behind you and squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top position.

A final strengthening exercise is a chin tuck for the deep cervical flexors. They are located very close to the spine in the front of the neck and can become lengthened and weak from our head constantly protruding forward to look at our computer screen. This imbalance is easy to identify from the side when you see a person whose head is well in front of his/her shoulders. The chin tuck exercise will help remedy this muscle imbalance and better align the head directly over the spine. You can perform this exercise standing with your entire posterior side slightly touching a wall or door. It’s not the most flattering exercise visually and, if you’re doing it correctly, you should be creating a double chin in the fully contracted position. However, weighing the options, I would recommend a few minutes of a visually unflattering exercise rather than constantly walking around like I'm looking for something on the other side of the fence.

I’ve had so many people reach out to me about neck pain in the past few weeks that I felt compelled to put this piece together. These six exercises should help relieve some of the discomfort you may be feeling. I want to reemphasize that the flexibility exercises should create a gentle stretch, especially around the area of the cervical spine. We are not trying to force our bodies into submission. Remember, flexibility training is about creating the correct length and tension of our muscles to relieve pain and increase our range of motion. If we are consistent in performing the activities, overtime, our pain will subside and our range of motion will improve. Slow and steady wins this race.