Why does my neck hurt?
Sore, tender points in the muscles around your upper shoulders and neck can be triggered by sitting for long periods.
So with the average person sitting for about 9 hours every day, it’s not surprising that muscular pain is one of the most common causes of neck pain.
How can I relieve my neck pain?
- Heat pack – using a wheat pack or hot water bottle to increase blood flow and relax sore muscles will give some temporary relief from pain. Apply the pack for up to 15 minutes and afterwards complete some simple neck exercises.
- TENS machine – this small, battery-powered device adheres to your skin via sticky pads (electrodes) and transmits small electrical signals which reduce pain and the effects can last for up to 4 hours. You do have to be careful where you place the pads around your neck though, so take a look at this guide.
- Trigger point balls – gentle, sustained pressure directly onto a sore muscular point using a massage ball, golf ball or tennis ball by leaning on the ball up against a wall can be a very effective way to relieve pain. Again, it’s helpful to do this before completing a simple programme of neck exercises to maintain the benefit for longer.
- Set up your workstation carefully (especially if you are working from home) – some really helpful and quality resources to guide you can be found here.
- Upper back and neck mobility programme – try our 10-minute physiotherapy programme below to relieve upper back and neck pain. I recommend doing it once a day.
- Move regularly – go for a short walk, jog on the spot, complete 20 step-ups… anything to get your blood flowing. See our guide to ‘habit stacking’ to help you create healthy movement habits for the long term.
We hope this programme helps you but for more specific advice, please don’t hesitate call us to discuss how massage at our Cambridge clinic could help you.