Suffering from Neck and Shoulder Pain while working at a desk or computer is quite common. It is because most of us are not aware of the fact that “Posture affects the body”.
If you are cursing yourself that you only suffer this pain, then you are wrong. Every adult who works at a desk undergoes this pain lately.
It’s just that, some of them have understood the reason behind the pain and made appropriate changes to get rid of it.
Now, it’s your turn. Go through the reasons listed below and check which of these is triggering your pain.
We have also listed the appropriate changes that could help overcome the pain.
However, if you are experiencing extreme pain, it is strongly recommended to consult a doctor. As in the case of extreme, it is important to get medical help in the first place otherwise the pain may turn into a lifelong problem.
5 Reasons for Your Neck and Shoulder Pain
In-Proper Chair Height
One of the biggest reasons why you suffer neck and shoulder pain while working could be your chair height. If that’s the case, you must consider the following points while analyzing your chair’s height.
→ Make sure your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle. →Your feet are resting on the floor comfortably. If not then you must get yourself a footrest. → Ensure that your body posture is as per ergonomics. Your spine shouldn’t be bent, it should be in a neutral position. Your lower body must rest comfortably on the chair.
Your body posture plays a very vital role in reducing the stress on the joints. Make sure you have a perfect posture while working. This will help you work for longer durations and that’s too quite comfortable.
If your chair doesn’t have a headrest and you are a tall person, it is recommended to yourself a chair with a headrest as your neck might need some relaxation periodically. The headrest will give those moments of relaxation to your neck.
lastly, There are a few best office chairs for neck pain and shoulder pain, so we highly recommend getting a chair that is good enough for the cause.
Once you are confident that your chair is aligned properly, you can move to the next reason.
Desk Height
There are times when people complain about pain but their chair and desk have a weird height combination. If your desk is too high or too low, make sure you get yourself a new desk because a short, as well as a high desk, can trigger pain.
Actually, the science behind this is; while sitting at the desk, your elbows must be bent at an angle of 90 degrees. If you are comfortable enough to reach your desk after a 90-degree bend, the desk is perfect for you. But, if it’s uncomfortable to reach the desk, you should consider getting a new one.
However, while analyzing your desk you must take care of the chair height. Make sure you don’t temper the chair settings and disturb your knee angle just to make yourself comfortable with the desk.
Wrong Monitor Height
If you use an external monitor, let us appreciate it as you have made a great decision. Using a laptop screen for long hours could trigger lots of pain.
Monitor height plays a vital role in keeping your backbone in a natural and neutral position. A well-aligned spine will put a minimum strain on the lower body and it will support the head and neck much more effectively.
Apart from this, the wrong monitor height will force you to bend your neck otherwise! which will increase the amount of pressure on it. According to research, our head weighs 4-5 Kg and exerts a minimum amount of force on the neck if it’s aligned straight.
However, if the neck is bent at a 45-degree angle in any direction, it feels an extreme amount of force because, at an angle of 45 degrees, our head starts exerting a force equal to a 20-25Kg object.
Hope, now you understand, how bad a slight bend in your neck could be. Always keep your neck straight and aligned properly with your spine. In order to do that, follow the below-mentioned steps:
→ Increase the height of your monitor to your eye level. To adjust the height of the monitor, you can use a pile of books, or monitor risers that are available at affordable rates these days.
→ All the corners of the screen must be easily visible to you and make sure that you don’t need to move your neck in order to focus on the entire screen.
→ Avoid using small monitors.
→ Ensure that your monitor is placed around an arm’s length away from you. Do not keep your monitor too close or too far from your eyes.
Switch between paper documents and computers.
Yes, you might have thought of it in your wildest dreams but regularly switching between paper documents and a computer screen could trigger severe neck and shoulder pain.
Regular up-and-down movement of the head exerts an extra force on the neck and this may end up in chronic neck pain.
In order to prevent such painful situations, it is recommended to get a document holder that has sufficient height so that our documents can be aligned with your neutral position of eyes.
Or, if possible, avoid using paper documents and convert them to computer documents.
Sleeping Session on Desk
If you are among those who enjoy taking a nap on the desk then you must stop it. A nap could refresh your brain but physically, it’s a very tedious task for joints to bear the force exerted while a nap.
When your body is bent forward, it might seem harmless to you but for your backbone, it’s one of the worst positions to hold. Your spine suffers maximum force.
Even your neck goes through a lot of trouble holding your head in that position.
It is suggested to take naps on the bed only. Any other place is dangerous for your body.
Lower body and Arms movement.
We have a few team members who have a habit of twisting their lower back while sitting on the chair periodically. It could be relaxing for a temporary time span but in the long run, those twisting are giving more trouble to your joints.
Similarly unwanted and continued arms movement could lead to shoulder pain.
It is recommended to sit sturdy and maintain the perfect posture as much as you can. Instead of twisting on the chair, you can stand up and go for a quick walk.
Final Notes
We understood that your work is important and you can’t afford to skip it. Perhaps, you have to work but what we are saying is that at the end of the day, your body is the reason that makes you capable enough to complete your work.
If your body is suffering from some pain, you won’t be able to concentrate on your work. In the end, your work as well as your body will be compromised.
Someone has said it so correctly “Precautions are better than cure”. You must consider all the precautions and take care of every minute element that could trigger some pain in your body. Post work, you can do some physical activities to relax your body and strengthen its joints. You must get proper sleep and try to keep your work environment calm and less stressful.