That pain in your neck can be well.. a right pain in the neck can’t it.
Neck pain is very, very common. Up to 70% of us will get it at some point in our lives and at any one time 10-20% of us have it. When you think of who gets neck pain most will think of office or desk based workers. It makes sense and the research suggests people in these types of jobs are twice as likely to get neck pain versus the population as a whole. I think this matches what I see in clinical practice.
Why then do office workers get neck pain?
Most will think posture and to some extent I agree. People in these types of jobs spend a long time in a particular posture. This is obviously going to mean that the structures that are loaded in this posture are going to be loaded for long periods. Guess what when structures are loaded for long periods? They become unhappy… they hurt.
So the answer is surely just sit-up straight and get the desk set-up right? Wrong! While changing the desk set-up may offload the unhappy structures there are many people out there with ‘perfect desk set-up’ who still get pain. Equally by changing posture to a ‘good’ posture we are only going to be transferring load on to other structures which may then become irritated.
This is notwithstanding the fact that the evidence proves it is very difficult to change your posture in the long term. Simply put people with poor posture do not have more pain than those with supposed good posture.
The problem therefore is not with the posture itself but with the lack of variability of posture and the tissues capability to cope with said posture. Your best posture is your next one. Physiotherapists do spend a lot of time sitting but we are fortunate in that we do get up to assess and treat people. Desk workers often don’t get these breaks.
The solution.
There are three ways to get on top of neck pain in these circumstances. One is to reduce the demand on these structures (think work less hours, change posture regularly, desk set-up, relaxation techniques), the second is to increase the capacity of these structures to tolerate the demand or load (think strengthening)
Strength training has been shown to reduce neck pain in desk workers. Some have looked at isolated neck movements with therabands or weights, whilst others have looked at what are ultimately shoulder movements to improve neck strength. Either way the success is remarkable. One study found a 50% reduction in pain with just 2 minutes a day of lateral raise with a theraband.
The final method is to get more active and fit. Indeed general fitness training has been shown to improve neck pain in sedentary individuals as it has in many other conditions.
What about tight muscles?
First things first if your neck is truly tight then I recommend you stretch and mobilise it. Hopefully it isn’t a true joint restriction and movement improves. This increased movement is then often associated with improved symptoms.
However so often people present to me with a neck that to them feels tight but on measurement movement is more than reasonable. Tightness really can be just a sensation, it is just another way of describing pain. When people present like this no amount of stretching, massage, or manipulation is likely to help in the long term. These people need to strengthen and I feel this is something that is often missed.
We know it helps but I feel there is still a fear of strength training a painful and muscle … this comes from both patients and therapists. It is counterintuitive after all. This needs to change.
Anyway that is my rant on neck pain. Get in contact to discuss your case today.