How You Can Prevent Neck Pain
By Sara Butler
Neck pain is pretty darn common. The National Institutes of Health says that between 10 and 21 percent of people experience neck pain every year, but a third of those cases become chronic pain conditions. Making sure you take care of your neck in order to avoid aches and pains is really important, so here are a few tips to keep you from becoming a neck pain statistic!
When You Sleep
Many people use their pillow to prop their heads up at night as they sleep, but pillows aren’t really made to support heads, they’re meant to support necks! You need to find a pillow that will allow you to keep your neck in a neutral position, meaning it is aligned with the rest of your spine whether you’re sleeping on your back or on your side. If you’re a stomach sleeper, that is the worst thing you can do for your neck health, so try to train yourself to sleep in another position.
At the Office
How much time do you spend working at your desk per day? If it’s more than you care to admit then you need to make sure you take extra care to ensure your desk space is set up in a neck-friendly way. Your computer screen should be in front of you, slightly below eye level. You also need to keep your chin tucked down in order to keep yourself from assuming a head forward posture, which can add a lot of weight to the load carried by your neck and upper back!
Get Active!
Many studies have proven that people who exercise are less likely to experience neck pain. When you work to keep yourself fit and stay active you move around, and all that moving around keeps you from experiencing repetitive injuries from something as seemingly innocent as sitting at your workstation all day long. So, even if you don’t go out and run a marathon, go for a walk after dinner and make sure you take frequent breaks during the day – at least once an hour – to get up and stretch.
See a Chiropractor!
One of the best things you can do to avoid neck pain is to see your chiropractor regularly. This way they can monitor the health of your neck and keep little problems from becoming larger, more painful and chronic conditions. Chiropractors not only have your back, they have your neck, too!