Neck pain is a 21st century disease. Just about everyone suffers from neck pain at one time or another. It can be an occasional mild nuisance that can be easily ignored most of the time. But what can we do when neck pain becomes unbearable? First of all, consider why your neck might be sore.

1. Posture

With the advent of the digital age, people are spending too much time crouched in front of a computer or craning their necks down to look at their smart phone. This can seriously aggravate, strain and wear out neck muscles. Posture is especially important for maintaining a healthy neck when we consider that the average human head weighs about as much as a bowling ball (and I’m not talking 5 pin). With proper posture, the head is balanced perfectly and the neck muscles can be at rest. However, if we are slouching forward and sticking our chins out, there is a constant strain on the neck muscles to keep the head up, leaving the neck muscles sore. Consider these tips for proper computer posture.

2. Lack of Movement

With all the time spent staring at a computer or a tv screen, the neck simply doesn’t get enough exercise.  The human body is made for movement.  Movement helps to produce synovial fluid which lubricates and cushions our joints.  A lack of movement causes this lubrication to stop or dry up leaving our necks as mechanically sound as a car without engine oil.  Try these gentle neck stretching exercises for the office.

3. Lack of Strength

Sitting in front of a computer all day can be even harder to do if we are out of shape.  Yes, you need to be in shape to sit.  Keeping our neck muscles constantly contracted in one position for 8 hours is incredibly difficult for our bodies to do.  Strengthening these muscles and increasing their endurance will improve their ability to face that challenge.  Many neck muscles start  in the shoulders and can be strengthened by doing shoulder exercises.  Consider adding the military shoulder press, shoulder shrugs, rowing motions and alternate dumbell shoulder press to your exercise routine.  Also tai chi, swimming, elliptical machines and yoga can be very helpful too.

4. Lack of Maintenance

A good way to maintain the health of your neck is to use proper office ergonomics, daily neck stretches and regular shoulder exercises.  A good addition to neck maintenance is a regular massage or acupuncture treatment.  An effective therapeutic massage and acupuncture treatment can help flush out the toxins that are building up in the muscles, break down adhesions or scar tissue that is starting to develop, normalize the nerve pathways to your muscles and take care of potential issues before they become a problem.  If you wake up with a neck so sore that you cannot move it, a good treatment can restore most neck functioning almost immediately.

The average person that comes in to see me is not an athlete, does not lift heavy objects, and cannot, for the life of them, understand why they are in so much pain. Truth is that you are more likely to suffer from that cushy desk job than from anything else.

Simply sitting in front of a computer for hours on end day after day slowly but surely does some serious damage to the body.  Here is how:

Headaches

Look at the last picture of the evolution of posture.  Notice how forward the person’s head is; how his neck sort of sticks out; and how he seems to be reaching further towards the screen.  That head position that everyone uses today puts a huge load of stress on those teeny tiny suboccipital muscles that lie at the base of the skull.  These suboccipital muscles when they are irritated for too long respond by sending headache signals to the temples, the side of the head, the base of the skull.  It can almost feel like someone tightening a band around your head.  Ouch!

Solution:

1. Learn how to sit properly using basic ergonomic principles
2. Keep your chin tucked in and stop inching your head toward the screen.  Perhaps it’s time to get a new glasses prescription or get a larger screen.

Pain Between Your Shoulder Blades

Notice how stretched forward his shoulders are?  How they kind of hunch forward and slouch?  This position keeps your chest muscles in a shortened, tight position, while stretching out the muscles in your upper back.  Yes, those rhomboid and trapezius muscles are being forced to work in a weakened, stretched out position.  They are also fighting a losing battle against tight, strong chest muscles.  The result is that the muscles between your shoulder blades will feel achy all the time.

Solution:

1. Stretch out your chest muscles, or try these chest stretches
2. Strengthen your Upper Back Muscles with lat pulldowns, use a rowing machine, do any kind of lats workout

Lower Back Pain

Notice how the lower back is missing any kind of natural arch in this position?  See how it rounds forward?  This is reversing the natural lordotic curve of the lower back and puts extra pressure on the nerve and blood supply in the lower back.  Basically, pressure is being put on your discs (herniated disc, anyone?), nerves are starting to be pinched, and your lower back is starting to feel achy all over.

Solution:

1. Sit with your hips against the back of the seat and get a lumbar support

Hip Pain

All that constant sitting can be a pain in the butt.  The constant pressure compresses nerves and blood vessels.  It acts like a choke hold, preventing blood from flowing freely to the gluteal muscles.  A reduced blood supply means less nutrients and oxygen being pumped into your hip and leg muscles.  It also means that waste products are not being removed very effectively from your hips.

Solution:

1. Stretch out your hip muscles
2. Learn these simple sitting exercises

What is the TMJ?

“TMJ” stands for Temporo Mandibular Joint.  Your TMJ  is basically your jaw joint that joins and hinges the jaw (mandible) onto the skull (temporal plate of the skull).

Signs and Symptoms of TMJ Disorder

TMJ Dysfunction or TMJ Disorder refers to irritation or improper functioning of the TMJ jaw joint.  Typical symptoms of TMJ Disorder are:

• jaw pain
• clicking in the jaw
• difficulty opening or closing the jaw
• locking of the jaw
• grinding the teeth at night
• headache
• neck pain

How to Relieve TMJ Pain

To treat TMJ Pain effectively it is important to do more that treat only the TMJ joint.  One must take into account many of the surrounding structures:

• The treatment should treat the structures most directly related to the joint such as: medial pterygoid, lateral pterygoid, masseter, and temporal muscles
• The fascia around this area is all very connected and interrelated.  The SCM muscle, for example weaves into the fascia of the TMJ joint as well as the fascia of the face.  Releasing the SCM can thus partially relieve the TMJ joint.
• The hyoid muscles should also be treated as they can deviate the mandible/jaw laterally
• Cranial work to rebalance the skull plates can also help relieve tension
• The suboccipital muscles and other neck muscles can all pull on the fascia of the TMJ causing tension on the joint and should therefore be relieved.

My Approach to treating TMJ Pain

My TMJ treatments typically cover the areas I just mentioned by incorporating a combination of massage, acupuncture, mobilizations, reflexive techniques, stretches, and fascial techniques.

For best results it is recommended to receive treatment once a week for 4 to 6 weeks.

Here is another stretch for your chest pectoral muscles. It is a yoga stretch than can easily be done at the work place. Perfect for those moments when you are stressed out at work and don’t have time for a break.

Guidelines for performing the stretches:

1. Check with a health care professional before you attempt these exercises to ensure that it is safe for you.
2. Do the exercises slowly and gently. Failing to follow the instructions or consult with a health care professional could cause your symptoms to worsen.
3. Try to breathe slowly and keep your body relaxed. Do not tense up or hold your breath as this will invite muscle spasm.
4. You should feel a gentle stretching sensation, but you should not feel any pain during the exercises. Be especially careful of any sharp pain in the shoulder. If you do feel pain, decrease the range of movement by stopping before you get to the point of pain. Continue the exercise within the pain free range.
5. If you cannot find a comfortable, pain free way to do these exercises, discontinue immediately and seek the advice of a health care professional.
6. To increase the stretch, try to squeeze your shoulder blades together and slide them down your back while you are doing the exercise.
7. Do the exercises in a set of 3 for a minimum of 3 times a day for best results.
8. Hold the stretch for a minimum of 15 seconds each time.