8 tips on how to reduce neck strain at your desk job – by an Osteopath
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1. Ensure your screens are positioned correctly:
One of the first questions I ask my patients when they are suffering from neck strain at work is if they have one, two or even three screens. For all screens, make sure they are the right height. The middle of the screen should be in line with your eyes; too low and we will strain the back of our necks, too high and we may hyper-extend and restrict the neck vertebrae!
a. If you have one screen: Place it directly in front of you with the centre of the screen lining up with your nose.
b. If you have two screens (and use them equally): Position the screens beside each other, facing slightly inwards with their meeting point lining up with your nose. This way you will be turning your head left and right equally.
c. If you have two or more screens but use one a lot more than the others: Place your main screen directly in front of you, with your accessory screen to one side (still at eye-level). Switch the accessory screen over to the other side every 4 weeks to avoid repetitive strain to that side of your neck.
2. Keep your friends close, but your elbows closer:
One of the main issues I notice with desk workers is neck strain associated with their “mouse hand”. A lot of people are constantly reaching for their mouse which results in overuse of the neck and upper shoulder muscles. My tip is to keep your elbows close to your waist, if you find your elbow strays away from your waist when you are using the mouse, bring the mouse closer! If your keyboard is in the way, you can invest in a smaller sized keyboard so you can keep everything in the elbow-zone!
3. Bring the heat:
Whether it’s chilly outside or your office air-con is blasting, your body tenses up more when it’s cold! Having an office wheat-bag (there’s always one in the office somewhere!) to chuck in the microwave or having a stash of stick-on heat patches handy will help settle those chilly muscles.
4. Take belly breaths:
Introducing our scalene muscles, these muscles assist with neck movement but also with inhalation. Most of us, especially when sitting hunched over or whilst under stress, breathe from the top half of our ribcage (as our bellies are usually restricted when hunched over the computer) and reserve our belly breathing for the yoga class. Breathing only from the top ribs will cause these muscles to overwork, leading to repetitive strain. If we can learn to breathe from our bellies, not only will this help us relax, but it will also reduce neck strain!
5. Attention solider:
If you haven’t already checked yourself, draw your shoulder blades down and back (like you’re trying to put them in your back pockets) and draw your chin inward (verging on a double-chin!). Your posture won’t be perfect* all the time, trust me no one’s is! However, bringing yourself out of a slouched position will help to loosen tight muscles and alleviate stiff joints. The best thing to do is get up and walk around as much as you can get away with!
*There is no such thing as perfect posture, the key is to keep changing your posture throughout the day to avoid strain. If we had perfectly straight backs all day, our muscles would become fatigued!
6. Switch it up:
If you’re suffering with repetitive one-sided neck and shoulder strain and you’re using your mouse with the hand on the same side, try switching it to the other side! It will feel very strange at first but our brains are wonderful and can develop new neural pathways. They just need a bit of time to carve them out! Switching our mouse from side to side every month would be a great way to prevent a build-up of tension.
7. Double strap it:
Leave the hand-bag at home, it’s time to invest in your new best friend; the back-pack! You may love your hand-bag, but your shoulder doesn’t. Distributing the weight evenly between both shoulders will help avoid one-sided neck strain. When you get a back-pack, adjust the straps so the base of it sits above your tailbone. If your bag hangs too low it may irritate your tailbone.
8. Engage to release:
A quick, simple and effective way to release tense shoulders; make them more tense! Squeeze your shoulders up towards your ears, screw up your face, clench your fists and make everything as tight as possible, hold for 5 seconds, take a deep breath in and exhale, release.
