I used to suffer chronic neck pain and muscle tension from sitting at a computer. These computer-related injuries built up over an extended period of time. They didn’t really hurt, or affect my life, in the beginning. But after months, then years of sitting with poor neck posture at a computer, the pain and dysfunction came on strong. By that point, I had a lot of work to do before I got computer neck pain relief.
This article will go over my favorite methods of neck pain prevention for computer users. It will also cover my favorite computer neck pain remedies.
This article is not professional medical advice. It’s based off my personal experience and opinions. For years, my poor computer posture caused muscle tension, inflammation, and chronic pain. Bad posture also decreased my mental clarity, energy level, and work productivity.
All the desk worker health tips I write about are directly related to improving posture at a computer. We are our own primary caretakers. Do your research. Make good decisions. And be the best advocate possible for your own healthcare.
Computer Neck Pain Remedies
Desk Neck Posture Correction
In 2011, I took full accountability for my poor computer posture. Computer neck pain was at the top of my list of issues. Before I could heal my neck pain, I needed to “stop the bleeding” so to speak. I needed to fix the computer posture mistakes that were constantly causing me neck pain and dysfunction.
The best way to do this was to create a proper ergonomic workstation setup. I wanted an office workstation that promoted good posture. I didn’t want to have to work to get into a good posture. Also, I should already be in a good posture as soon as I sat down. The hard part should be maintaining good posture throughout the workday. Sitting down in correct posture should be the easy part.
Correct monitor height
The first mistake I needed to correct was my monitor height. It doesn’t matter if you’re using a laptop monitor or a regular monitor. If the top of the monitor screen is below your eye level, it can naturally cause you to look downward. This compresses and shortens the muscles on the front of the neck. It also overextends and lengthens the muscles on the back of the neck. This muscle imbalance causes your cervical spine to be in a vulnerable position. Holding this position for long periods of time was a major cause of my computer neck pain.
Preventing neck pain from computer use can actually be pretty simple. I stopped working from my laptop screen all day. And I bought an external monitor. It hooked up easily to my laptop. And there was no software to download. After that, all I had to do was raise my monitor to the correct height. I make sure the top of the monitor screen is even with my eye level.
Avoid forward head posture
The second neck posture mistake I used to make was called forward head posture. This is when I’d lean my head forward in front of my torso, at the expense of my neck muscles and cervical spine. I used to hold this poor posture position for multiple hours a day.
A couple different mistakes can cause this. Sometimes the armrests on my office chair would hit the desk. This would prevent me from getting my eyes a close distance from my monitor. So naturally, I would lean into forward head posture to see my monitor better.
Another posture mistake that causes forward head posture is when my monitor would be too far back on my desk. I like to keep my monitor screen no more than 2 feet away from my eyes (preferably closer). This can also help with eye strain prevention.
Neck Stretches for Office Workers
Sitting at a computer with poor neck posture can have destructive effects on the cervical spine. The easiest, low budget way to find some temporary relief is neck pain stretches for desk jobs. This is probably what gave me the least computer neck pain relief, but I still wanted to mention it. Because it’s the only zero-cost method in this article. I won’t get to in-depth here, but I wrote an entire article about it if you’d like to learn more. It’s titled Cervical Spine Exercises.
Chiropractic and Soft Tissue Care
I strongly believe that chiropractic care is a great way to improve computer posture. It’s also a great way to get computer neck pain relief. Luckily, I’ve found a really good chiropractor. But I visited quite a few chiropractors before I found the one that was right for me. I’m an athlete who also lifts weights. So naturally, I wanted to find a chiropractor who follows a similar lifestyle. I wanted one who has personally experienced similar pain and tension as me. I didn’t just want a chiropractor that adjusted me and then called it a day. Also, I wanted a chiropractor who also did soft tissue manipulation. To learn more about my chiropractic experience, check out my article titled Can Chiropractic Care Improve Your Computer Posture?
Iron Neck
Using a posture correction device called the Iron Neck is one of the most valuable ways I’ve prevented neck pain from computer use. Side note: this is not paid promotion. I bought my Iron Neck with my own money. I’m not compensated by them in any way. I like to share products that’ve helped improve my computer posture.
One of the best ways of neck pain prevention for computer users is to have a stronger neck. And the Iron Neck helped me with that. Remember earlier in this article, I talked about how poor neck posture caused the muscles on the front of my neck to compress and shorten. At the same time, the muscles on the back of my neck overextended and lengthened. This chronic muscle imbalance was tough to correct. And I honestly believe I never would have corrected it, if it wasn’t for the Iron Neck.
The Iron Neck fits around the head like a hat would. It’s shaped like a halo. Then, it has a strap that connects under the chin. There is a track that goes all the way around it 360 degrees. There is a small device that slides around that track. This device is also connected to the Iron Neck.
The Iron Neck comes with a resistance band that hooks to the piece that slides around on the track. The other end of the resistance band can hook to a door or a pole.
To learn more about the Iron Neck, and how it helped me prevent neck pain from computer use, check out the Iron Neck Review that I wrote.
THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN COMPUTER POSTURE.
If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re taking valuable steps to reduce computer-related injuries by improving your posture. That’s something to be very proud of!
If you liked this article on computer neck pain remedies, check out my book titled 45 Ways to Improve Computer Posture.
This book is a great supplement to the article you just read. It covers healthy ergonomic habits like posture, sleep, hydration, and breathing.
I wrote this book to be the resource I wish I had back in 2002, when I first started sitting at a computer for long periods of time.
Go to SittingPosture.com/book to learn more.
Take care,
Todd Bowen