Everything you need to know about neck pain, and the several avoidable causes of it
Whether you have a sore neck from injury, illness, bad posture or just lifestyle choices, neck pain is a very common disrupter in people’s lives, and it shouldn’t be something you have to just “put up with” or go along with. With some small, healthy changes to your day-to-day life and how you take care of yourself, you can drastically lower the chances of getting neck pain.
There are many causes of neck pain, and today we will be looking at the ones in which you are in control of. Bad posture is one of the main culprits of neck pain, and can occur from sitting down for too long, slouching in your chair or just generally not keeping an eye on your positioning. When working from home or sitting at a desk for long periods of time, you can strain your neck by looking down at your screen too often, and not having your chair the correct height.
This can be avoided by placing your screens at eye level, taking the pressure off your neck muscles to always be lowered.
A pinched nerve is also a very common cause of neck pain. It can occur when a verve becomes irritated, and often needs physical massage therapy and a range of other treatments in order to loosen it. Another similar cause of neck pain is a person experiencing nerves and anxiety, which can lead you to naturally hunch your shoulders, which will eventually cause neck pain.
Relaxing more and getting a massage will allow your shoulders and neck to loosen up and dissolve some of the tension that you have acquired in those areas. An injury, such as strained muscles, can also cause someone to experience neck pain. Slow and gentle range of motion movements will allow you to stretch the effected area whilst it heals, alongside taking painkillers such as ibuprofen.
It is extremely common that a tight neck will cause you to experience other effects, such as a headache or migraine, and a stiff neck is actually often one of the key reasons behind these. Headaches, also known as tension headaches, can occur when there is a build up of tension and tight muscles in your neck, which in turn also restrict movement and loose muscles in your head, therefore causing you to experience a headache. Taking care of your daily routine is the best way to avoid tension headaches, such as ensuring that your back is always square and straight when sitting upright, and keeping an eye on your shoulders hunching when working or typing on a computer.
Sports Massage & Deep Tissue massage can help release the tight muscles around the neck, here at Circle8 we will also check if the neck pain is being referred from somewhere else and provide you with some stretches and activation exercises to ensure the pain doesn’t come back.
Also see our Blog regarding fixing upper back pain which could be the cause of your neck pain.
