Tips for neck pain prevention

In the digital age, neck pain is becoming more and more common. Sitting at your computer or staring at your smartphone can quickly add to neck tension, stiffness and discomfort.

Although neck pain isn’t always avoidable, you can prevent it with some simple changes. If you have neck pain, Advocate Health Care spine specialists can offer effective treatments. Neck pain treatment can improve your quality of life, helping you get back to your daily routine, pain-free.

How can I prevent neck pain?

Even if you have an underlying condition, your posture and lifestyle can affect whether you’ll develop neck pain. Try these simple changes to improve your neck health and lower your risk of discomfort.

Ergonomic workstations

Ergonomic workstations are work areas that are comfortable and efficient. Not having an ergonomic workstation is one of the most common culprits of neck pain, especially for people who work from home or continually look down at a laptop screen.

To improve your workstation’s ergonomics in the office or at home, you may:

• Adjust your chair so that your feet can plant firmly on the floor with your thighs parallel to the ground
• Choose a desk with a height that allows your forearms to be parallel with the floor when you type
• Position your monitor or laptop so that your gaze is in the top third of the screen, rather than looking down

Tech neck prevention

Keeping your head buried in your phone isn’t just rude – it can harm your neck. Over time, continually looking downward can injure your neck’s discs, joints and ligaments. This damage is so common that medical providers have coined the term “tech neck” to describe what happens to your neck when you’re constantly looking down at a screen.

To minimize your risk of tech neck, you may:

• Decrease how often you text or scroll on social media
• Hold your devices or smartphone at eye level
• Prop devices on a pillow instead of holding them on your lap
• Set timers that remind you to take breaks from your phone periodically

Postural changes

Whether you’re looking at your phone, sitting at your desk or running errands, your posture makes a big difference in whether you develop neck pain. In fact, each inch that your head shifts forward adds about 10 pounds of pressure to your neck muscles. Over time, this extra pressure damages the structures in your neck and causes pain.

To improve your posture and prevent neck pain:

• Keep your head in line with the center of your body
• Lift your chest upward to straighten your spine
• Roll your shoulders away from your ears
• Slightly engage your abdominal muscles

Lifestyle changes to prevent neck pain

Your health habits can also affect whether you develop neck pain. In particular, poor lifestyle choices are more likely to dry out or damage your cervical discs. Discs are the sponge-like cushions between your spinal bones. When they dry out or sustain damage, you may develop neck pain.

Exercise

Regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health. Exercise strengthens your muscles and bones, increases blood flow and reduces your risk of injury. Specifically, strengthening your back muscles helps support proper posture, lessening your neck pain risk.

Quit smoking

Tobacco constricts your blood vessels and decreases blood flow. It also accelerates how quickly your cervical discs dry out.

If you need help quitting smoking, speak with your health care provider. They can offer resources to help you stay committed to quitting, including smoking cessation classes, if needed.

Stay hydrated

Your discs are mostly water, so hydration is crucial to keeping your discs healthy. In general, most people need around 64 ounces of water daily. But you may need more depending on where you live, how much you exercise and your body size.

If it’s difficult to stay hydrated, try setting alarms every one to two hours. When the timer goes off, chug a full glass of water. Low-sugar juices, teas and other liquids can also count toward your hydration goals, but caffeine and extra sugar can dehydrate you and have counteractive effects.

Best pillow for neck pain

What’s the best pillow for neck pain? There’s no magic option that will guarantee comfort. But a few tips can help you ensure that the wrong pillow isn’t the root cause of your neck pain. You may:

• Choose memory foam, which shapes to the structure of your spine
• Find a comfortable travel pillow so that you don’t develop neck pain when you’re away from home
• Keep an eye out for flatter pillows that allow you to keep your head in close alignment with your spine
• Replace your pillows every 12 to 24 months

How you position your pillow while you sleep can also affect your neck pain risk. If you sleep on your side, position the pillow between your neck and shoulder to support your neck muscles. While on your back, place a pillow under your thighs to support your spine’s alignment.

What’s the best sleep position for preventing neck pain?

In general, sleeping on your back will take the most weight off your neck. If you have chronic neck pain, sleeping on your back with a wedge pillow may help relieve some tension. You may also place a pillow under both arms to take even more pressure off your neck.

What sleep position increases neck pain?

Sleeping on your stomach is most likely to cause neck pain. When you lie on your stomach, you usually turn your head and neck to the side and your back arches. If you tend to sleep on your stomach, you may want to start getting used to another sleep position.