If you get regular pain in your upper back and neck, you are not alone. Pain in the upper body is a problem for millions of adults and children across the world. This is all thanks to the modern-day lifestyle, where we all sat in a chair all day hunched over a laptop or our phones.
Even if you have an office job that requires you to stay at a computer screen all day, you can still avoid neck and upper back pain by building healthy habits in your lifestyle.
What’s more important is realizing where your bad habits start to creep in. Noticing when you begin to slouch or when you are straining your neck to look down at your phone is important to prevent these habits from being ingrained in your behaviors.
Here are some of the worst habits that can cause strain on the muscles in your upper back and neck, leading to chronic pain.
Looking Down at Your Phone
Many of us are guilty of staring down at our phone screens all day. Whether you are scrolling through social media, responding to work emails, or playing a random game, it’s easy to let the time slip away when you are preoccupied with your smartphone.
When you are tilting your head down to look at your phone, it causes excess strain to run through the upper spine and neck muscles. Just a 15° forward head tilt causes around £27 of pressure on your neck. To reduce this pressure, raised your phone to eye level so that you don’t have to tilt your head.
You Are Sleeping in a Suboptimal Position
You may not give much thought to the way that you sleep. However, you are in bed for around one-third of the day, so it’s important to find a comfortable and muscle-friendly position to sleep in.
The best way to sleep is on your back with a pillow just underneath your knees. Your spine should be neutral and your neck should be in line with the rest of your spine. Disposition relieves tension and strain through these muscles and joints in your back and neck.
You Have a Poor Desk Posture
When you are concentrating on work, it’s easy to forget about your posture. You can start to slouch, with your shoulders rolling forward and your neck tilting downwards.
Sitting in this hunched-over position for hours every single day can wreak havoc on your neck and back. You might end up with chronic pains and tension in the area.
To optimize your desk posture, elevate your computer screen to eye level so you don’t have to tilt your head downward to look at it.
Get a chair that supports your back from top to bottom and enables you to sit with your knees at a 90° angle and your feet on the floor.
