Four Strategies to Alleviate Neck Pain

Four Strategies to Alleviate Neck Pain

Marketplace Physical Therapy Prescribes Four Simple Strategies to Cure Neck Pain

The two most common reasons people go to Marketplace Physical Therapy in Chino is Low Back and Neck Pain. It makes sense when we start to understand that people are on their computer and electronic devices more than anytime in history. Daily we contort our bodies into very unnantural positions in order to read their ipad, iphone or small internet device. This often puts serious stress on the spine and can definitely lead to low back and neck pain.

Marketplace Physical in Chino polled all of our Physical Therapists and came up with 4 of the BEST Strategies to Alleviate Neck Pain. All of these strategies are centered around the belief that our environment should adapt to us, not the other way around. Before you start to adjust the environment around you, we must make sure that your neck is properly alligned in the first place.

For Starters:

You need to sit up straight with your chest out and your back straight. Next you need to tuck your chin back towards your neck until you feel the back of your head completely stretched out. Please make sure to maintain this position when applying any of the following strategies to alleviate neck pain.

  1. Never move your rear-view mirror in your car again. Next time you get in your car, get your neck and spine in the proper position. Adjust the distance and angle of the seat to it’s proper location. Now, place your rear-view mirror where you can have the largest viewable area. The next step is very important. You must memorize the picture of what you can see from this position, because every time you get in the car you need to get your body in the proper allignment to see this picture again. Never again will you move the seat or mirror to have a good view of what is behind your car.
  2. Position the products in your work place so that everything comfortably stays in your line of sight. If your computer monitor does not move up and down then you might have to adjust your chair. Sometimes all it takes is to adjust the computer angle slightly to take serious pressure off of your neck. here is an example of what we did to help our receptionist. Her work area was set up ergonomically correct, but whenever patient came through the door she would have to look up in order to great them which was causing some neck pain. To solve this we raised her chair up slightly and put a sturdy boxy under her computer. This allowed her to only have to look sideways to greet patients instead of looking up and taking her neck out of proper positioning.
  3. Use the proper instruments for your job. This might seem like a weird suggestion but it is very important. For instance, a Dental Hygienist must see deep into very small areas of your mouth. If they don’t use a magnifying instrument called loupes then they have to strain their neck to see properly. Below is a picture of what I am talking about. However, this applies to numerous professions.

4. Take time to stretch your neck throughout the day. Below you will find a pictures with descriptions of the proper way to do a neck stretch.

Remember, to keep the spine straight and tuck the chin towards the back of the head.

Keeping your body straight and slightly rotate the neck about halfway to your shoulder. This stretch needs to be done on both sides.

If you are facing left. Take your left hand and put it on the back of your head. Pully lightly and you should feel a nice stretch on the back of the head. Complet twice on both sided and hold for 30 seconds each.

 

This is a picture of proper neck position and is the starting point of our stretch. Remember, to keep the spine straight and tuck the chin towards the back of the head.

Keeping your body straight and slightly rotate the neck about halfway to your shoulder. This stretch needs to be done on both sides.

If you are facing left. Take your left hand and put it on the back of your head. Pully lightly and you should feel a nice stretch on the back of the head. Complet twice on both sided and hold for 30 seconds each.

We hope this article helps to relieve some of your minor neck pain. If you are experiencing major neck pain, then please see your doctor or Physical Therapist. You can set up a free consultation with Marketplace Physical Therapy at any of our 5 location in the Inland Empire by calling 951.684.2874.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *