Is Working From Home a Pain in Your Neck?

Thanks to working from home, you’re feeling less stressed, you have more personal time, and your work clothes have become far more comfortable. You’ve joined a growing remote revolution. In fact, the number of people working from home in the United States tripled between 2019 and 2021.

The benefits of remote work are certainly plentiful, but there can be some drawbacks, such as neck pain due to less-than-ideal work spaces and circumstances.

In this month’s blog post, Interventional Pain Center’s Dr. Sachida Manocha takes a look at how you can offset some of the pitfalls of working from home and avoid neck pain.

Create a proper space

Many people who work from home today were forced into the arrangement by the global pandemic. This change happened suddenly, forcing people to carve out a space at home from which to work, which often meant the dining room table or on the couch.

If, like many others, you’ve chosen to continue to work from home, there are no excuses for not creating a more spine-friendly working setup. 

To start, we know it’s a laptop, but looking down at a screen is one of the worst positions for your neck to be stuck in, as it places more pressure on your cervical spine. 

To wit, when your neck is straight, it only needs to support the 10-12 pounds that your head weighs. However, if you bend your head down 15 degrees, this pressure jumps to 27 pounds and, at 45 degrees, the pressure on your neck increases to 49 pounds.

To relieve this pressure on your neck, place your laptop on a stand on top of a desk or table to bring the screen to eye level. To keep your shoulders happy — because these joints affect your neck — get a separate keyboard and place it on top of your workspace so that your upper arms aren’t reaching up. It helps if you think of your laptop as more of a monitor.

It’s also time to invest in an ergonomic work chair so you’re not perching on an uncomfortable dining room chair or slouched on the couch. The chair should provide support all the way up your spine and include a headrest so you can lean back and give your neck a break every once in a while.

Take breaks and stretch

When you work from home, you should take advantage of this greater freedom to get up and move around every hour or so. This can really help your spine stretch out. 

If you’re struggling with a stiff neck, use this time to do some gentle stretches, such as turning your head from side to side and up and down. You can even do these stretches from your office chair, but it would be better for your entire spine to get up and move around a little.

One great exercise for your spine is to stand in a doorway and place your hands on either side of it. Then, slowly twist your upper body and head around in one direction, keeping your feet in place. Then, do the same in the other direction.

Creating a better work space and stretching throughout the day can do wonders for preventing or alleviating neck pain. If neck pain and stiffness still persevere, please come see us so we can investigate the problem and find the best path forward for relief.

For expert diagnosis and treatment of your neck pain, please book an appointment online or over the phone with Interventional Pain Center today. We have offices in Worthington and Newark, Ohio.