Do you often get neck pain? Are you never sure what sets it off? Do you want to get rid of it for good?
“A relationship exists between increased forward head posture, loss of cervical backward bending and increased neck pain”
Neck pain is a major pain in the neck.
I know where you are, I understand what you feel. That inability to turn pain free, that ache that never goes away, that headache stemming from the neck that just takes over your life.
Living with neck pain you quickly learn just how much of your life involves moving your head and neck in some way.
Some days it may only be minor and present as a little bit of stiffness and pain with neck turning, but those days when it’s far worse where you can hardly move without generating pain with an added headache being a further complication just makes you feel that life is dishing you up an unfair hand.
But let’s get a little real for a moment, neck pain is complex. There are a lot of variables that can be involved and contribute to the pain and loss of movement. Areas such as the temporomandibular joint (jaw joint), shoulder complex and posture are right at the top of the list.
Check out my previous blog on how these area may be causing your neck pain here 👉👉 CLICK HERE 👈👈
But have you ever wondered why your neck pain just seems to randomly appear…?
The components that undermine the function and capability of the neck often creep in over an extended period. The trigger for neck pain to start is often when the area that has been undermined is stressed beyond its capability. So what stresses it…?
There are many activities that we do in our everyday lives that can commonly cause neck pain. Many things we do regularly, if done poorly for an extended period, can give rise to neck pain.
There are many reasons why these poor habits affect some more than others. For example, the less stable an area is or the quicker it fatigues, the more likely you are to not cope with long term.
The good thing is that neck pain can be improved and often resolved.
The challenge is, to resolve neck pain the treatment must be tailored to you and be focused on the causes of dysfunction in your neck. Simply recurrently treating, rubbing or exercising your neck over and over again, without addressing the associated mechanisms may not result in long-term resolution. We need to fix the variables that are associated with the cause of neck pain to get long term stability.
Having correct neck stability and function is critical. However, you also need to be mindful of how you use your neck throughout the day.
Poorly done activities have the potential to create dysfunction and problems that become recurrent and long lasting.
I’ve put together a quick list of the top 3 things that I see create recurrent neck problems in people. You can read them below 👇👇👇
In these circumstances, addressing your lifestyle issues can provide a faster resolution and freedom from pain!
The head/neck region is a complex system and it is affected by a lot of different structures. Improving those structures will go a long way to giving you long term relief. However, poor habits can lead to recurrence creating an endless treatment loop without resolution.
Here’s my top 3 tips on things to avoid that cause neck pain
- Tech time –Posture and the length of time in poor posture is a huge problem for many people. Tech use encourages a severe hunched posture for prolonged periods of time.
- Posture – how do you sit and stand? Keep yourself erect when sitting, let the chair hold you in a good posture, use pillows to support your low back when on soft “comfy” couches, and don’t support your head in your hands. When standing try and keep equal pressure on both feet – don’t prop.
- Sleeping – tummy sleeping is a big no-no, extended time with your head turned to one side and extended is too much. Incorrect pillow and mattress combination also will play havoc with your neck
Lifestyle issues are a significant cause of ongoing pain and discomfort for many people. Failing to identify and correct these issues results in ongoing pain and discomfort for many people.
Don’t know where to start?
I’m giving away free phone consultations this month for anyone that is looking for some help. Just send me a message with the subject “call me” and let’s organise a time to chat. Just click here and let’s get started.
