Text Neck

Simple Exercises You Can Do Anywhere to Get Rid of Nasty Text Neck Pain

Neck pain is becoming a serious problem especially in office workers. Back in 2009, 49% of Australian office workers in a study reported that they had experienced neck pain. This percentage surely would have increased more since then, especially post lockdown. You may think only office workers are affected as they sit from dawn till dusk, but it’s not just office workers! We are currently living in the tech era which makes us all prone to a sitting and sedentary lifestyle. Sitting in front of a screen all day creates a hunched posture which puts an incredible amount of load on our neck muscles. In combination with this, “Text Neck” is usually accompanied with rounded shoulders which disrupts the normal movements of our shoulders. This may bring great pain and discomfort when completing activities throughout the day, especially ones that require lifting our arms up. 

To combat all this sitting, it is crucial to get moving,  get our posture back on track, take pressure off and avoid spiralling pain. 

Now let’s look at how we can combat neck pain. Stretching all the neck muscles is the most simple and efficient way for people of all ages and abilities. These stretches include bending the neck forwards, to the left, to the right and to the back for a repetition of 5 times per day. Back tightness can translate towards neck pain as well since a hunched back changes our neck posture to be more forward leaning. Therefore, back extension stretches (putting hands by your hip and leaning backwards) is vital in alleviating prolonged seated posture and lightening the load our necks bear throughout the day. This can be done 10-20 times a day with up to 10 second holds between each repetition. Both these stretches have been shown to increase neck function and quality of life among individuals suffering from chronic neck and back pain. People who also completed the stretches on more days of the week had greater increases in pain relief. Therefore, the recommendation is to complete these stretches at least 3 days a week. 

In combination with stretching, manual therapy has shown to help pain, inflammation and swelling to provide immediate relief in the short-term. It is not a necessity but hopping down to your local physio or massage therapist can give you an early boost to your fight against neck pain. It can also provide more personalised guidance around how to execute the above exercises and whether there are some additional targeted things you can do to help. 

Stretching and releasing muscles is important for short term release however, strengthening of the muscles is what creates long-term postural change which will hopefully prevent future aches. Forward head posture creates pressure that can cause tension in our posterior neck muscles but concurrently stretches and weakens our front neck muscles. It is then crucial to restore our front neck muscles with exercises such as the funny looking chin tuck. This exercise may be hilarious to look at, but it is effective at alleviating neck pressure and improving neck posture. Exercises to strengthen the back to remove rounded shoulders include the prone pilates sequence where you lift your scapula and arms into various positions such as I, M, T and Y. These exercises are tricky to describe so searching them on the web may provide clearer and succinct explanation or see our instagram post. Patients who completed these exercises not only saw an improvement in head and shoulder posture, but also a significant reduction in pain and increase in shoulder function throughout the day. These exercises are also easy to complete anywhere and will not require you to set aside time going to the gym. Starting with 3 reps of 10 for 3 days a week is a good starting point in which you can increase as you get better. Effects of these exercises can last for months even when you decide to stop. However, getting to this point requires consistency for at least 6 weeks. Just a little effort and time in performing purposeful exercises goes a long way in saying goodbye to neck pain.

If you aren’t sure the above strategy sounds right for you or would like a targeted, tailored, individual approach to managing your neck pain, posture, or other concerns – our physios are here to help.

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