Blog

• By Dr. Nikita Shelar
• 0 Comments
• September 28, 2022

Is working from home causing you neck pain?

The term “Tech Neck” causes aching and stiffness, but over time, it can lead to kyphosis, or a hump at the top of your back. When you’re working on a computer or looking down at your phone, the muscles in the back of the neck have to contract to hold your head up. The more you look down, the more the muscles have to work to keep your head up. These muscles can get overly tired and sore from looking down at our smartphones, working on computers, or looking down at our tablets all day. That’s what it called “tech neck.”

If your neck pain began shortly after you started working from home, there’s a good chance that it’s caused by muscle strain. Your cervical spine contains some of the smallest and most fragile bones in your body, yet it supports the weight of your head for hours every day. 

Poor posture, especially while hunching over a desk, computer, or smartphone, can overuse certain muscles in your neck. In the short 

Alternate causes of neck pain

Muscle strain might not be your only problem, however. Other causes of chronic neck pain include: 

• Nerve compression
• Joint degeneration

What are the symptoms you get when you work for long hours on the computer?

• Headaches
• Stiff necks
•  Neck muscle spasms
•  pain between shoulder blades

Some people say they have a hard time looking up after looking down for a long time. In severe situations you could get numbness or tingling or weakness that goes down into your arms because of a pinched nerve in your neck.

How to avoid neck pain while working from home?

 There are some exercises  which you can perform while working-

1. Neck Flexion  – Bring your chin down towards your chest and hold for 5 seconds. Repeat 10 times!
2. Neck extension – Bend your neck backwards and look towards the ceiling. Hold for 5 seconds. Repeat 10 times.
3. Neck rotation- Look over your right shoulder and hold for 5 seconds, then repeat looking over your left shoulder. Repeat 10 times to each side.
4. Spine twists – Twist round to hold the back of your chair for up to 20 seconds. Repeat on the other side. Repeat up to 10 times on each side. 
5. Chin Tucks – This exercise will activate and strengthen your deep cervical muscles (front of the neck muscles)

• Place 2 fingers at the bottom of your chin.
• Gently tuck your chin in and retract your head backwards. At the same time, use your fingers to keep the chin tucked in the entire time.
• Hold the end position for 3 to 5 seconds.
• Relax your neck for a moment (Let the neck come fwd).
• Do this exercise for 2 to 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

    6.Trapezius Stretching – 

     To perform trapezius stretch – 

1. Sitting in a chair, place your hand on the side you want to stretch underneath your thigh so you are sitting on it. You can also place it behind your back.
2. Take your other hand over your head and place it on the side you want to stretch. Gently pull toward the other side until you feel a stretch, and hold for 10-15sec 
3. Repeat the same stretch on the other side.
4. Do this Trapezius stretch 5 times on each side