Cervical strain is pain that occurs in the muscle or tendon fibers that are located in between the seven bones in the neck that connect to the spine. These cervical bones are connected with tendons and muscles. If one is injured, it could result in mild-to-severe neck pain. A strain occurs in the neck if a fiber in the muscle or tendon is overstretched and receives micro-tears. Typically, this neck pain will heal on its own, but depending on the location and severity of the muscle strain or ligament sprain, the pain can be mild-to-severe. The inflammation, swelling, and recovery period will often depend on how severe is the injury.
For those individuals who find that they’re constantly dealing with neck pain or neck injuries, working with a physical therapist can prove to be beneficial to identify the root cause of the neck pain and to establish a treatment program that will help you decrease your pain levels over time.
A reported 10-20 percent of people in the United States experience neck pain, which ranks it in the top five disorders in the country. The factors that contribute to cervical strain vary and can include: ergonomics at work, fitness-related factors, repetitive movements, poor posture, and physical activity.
With so many individuals suffering from some form of neck pain, it’s important to identify what the symptoms of cervical strains are, what can be done to reduce the likelihood of experiencing or having a cervical strain, and ways in which manual therapy can help treat cervical strain injuries and pain.
If you’ve overworked your neck muscles or endured an injury to the neck, you may experience symptoms that include: numbness in the arm, trouble sleeping, headaches, stiffness, muscle spasms, and pain in the shoulders or back. These uncomfortable symptoms can follow a high-impact injury that has suddenly pushed the neck muscles past their mobility point or a low-level stress activity like having a consistently poor posture. Both of these situations cause strain on the neck and can change the severity of the injury and the course of treatment.
While neck pain might seem like a small issue at first and you believe it will subside in time, it could be your body sending you a message that something is wrong and it needs to be tended to. Don’t ignore the messages that your body is sending to you and listen to what it’s trying to tell you.
Let’s look deeper into what creates cervical strain in our daily lives and some ways in which you can avoid and treat cervical strains.
Have you ever been sitting at your desk for too long, looking down at your computer, and once you look up, your neck feels tight and sore? This is because the neck is positioned too far forward when looking at a computer for an extended period of time. When this overextension position happens, the muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues are overstretched or excessively fatigued. Whenever the neck is held at an awkward angle for a long period of time, the same effects can happen.
In order to work comfortably and avoid neck pain, it is recommended to set your monitor at eye level and an arm’s length away from your face so there is no need for your neck to be positioned downward. Additionally, to position the whole body properly at a desk, your chair height should be level so that the knees are in line with your hips.
As more workers have the opportunity to work from home or work from the comfort of their home office on a flexible schedule with their employer, it doesn’t mean that you should be slouching off or creating bad habits when you’re working from home. Even though that couch or living room chair might seem like an enticing place to get your work done, it could be contributing to the pain that you feel later on.
Often times, some muscle strains won’t bother individuals during the activity or uncomfortable position, and it’s only afterward that the pain starts seeping in. Have you ever been in a scenario where you thought to yourself, “Well my back and neck are sore, but I can’t remember what I did?” If you’ve ever thought those same thoughts, you’re not alone. That’s why it’s so important to make sure that as you’re working from home, you’re not only being productive but you’re doing it with the right equipment, posture, and environment.
The type of equipment you use, the environment you work in, the posture you have, and the length of time you are in certain positions and performing certain activities could have an impact on your cervical strain as you work from home. This means that you need to take a hard look at some of the things you’re using in your home office or the area in which you typically try to get some of your work done at home.
Answering some internal questions can help you identify things that could be contributing to the stress you’re putting on your neck and the cervical strain that results from it.
For instance, are you working at a countertop or at a desk? Do you find that your desk is too tall and you feel like you have to raise your hands up while you type? Are you crunching your shoulders together as you type either through discomfort or anxiety? Do you feel like your chair is tall enough for the desk or writing stand you’re using? Is your chair an appropriate chair that will allow you to sit ergonomically or are you positioned at an awkward angle? Do you strain to see the screen you’re looking at or are you positioning your neck in weird angles to view the screen for long durations of time? Does the chair you’re using have armrests?
These are just a handful of the types of questions that you should be asking yourself to make sure that you’re completely comfortable while you work from home. Even though it can be easy to slip into some bad habits while you’re working from home, you want to avoid slipping into any bad habits that might put your neck in an uncomfortable position that could potentially cause a cervical strain as well.
Think about the equipment you’re using and the environment you’re working in to identify potential things that could be contributing to the cervical strain you’re feeling. Another great way to identify potential things in your home that could be contributing to your neck pain or cervical strain is to work with our concierge in-home physical therapy service. With our in-home physical therapy service, your physical therapist can help identify things that could be potentially impacting your neck pain as you work from home, and help guide you on ways to reduce your neck pain and cervical strain from the comfort of your own home.
Book an Appointment Today to get our Concierge In-Home Physical Therapy service!
The next thing that could be contributing to the neck pain and cervical strain you’re experiencing is your work environment and the tools or equipment you use at work. There are plenty of work-related activities and devices you could be using that are contributing to your cervical strain. For instance, your work laptop, work phone, desk, chair, and accessories.
Be aware if you are looking down at your mobile device to check emails or messages, you may also encounter a strained neck. The neck pain that results from this is referred to as “tech neck” due to the uncomfortable position the neck is forced into for long periods of time when on a mobile device. If you’re talking on long calls with clients or team members, consider utilizing headphones, putting your phone on speaker, or holding your phone to your ear. If you contort your neck to hold your mobile device between your shoulder and ear, the neck muscles can become stiff over time.
In the same way that you should check your home office or work environment, you should check your work desk and work environment to make sure that it’s set up for your success as you go through the workday. Ask yourself the same questions that we’ve outlined earlier for your office environment to make sure that you’re capable of performing your daily office and work-related tasks without putting your body through significant strain or stress.
Research has shown that individuals often complain about neck pain during and after work due to a variety of reasons. If you find that you’re experiencing neck pain while you work in an office environment, you’re not alone. The good news is that there are things that can be done to reduce the neck pain you’re experiencing at work.
The next thing to do is to make sure to take breaks! Our bodies are not meant to stay sedentary all day. Typically a head will weigh about twelve pounds, and when the neck is strained and positioned towards a computer screen at a 45-degree angle, that’s 50 pounds placed on our neck joints! Imagine the damage this amount of weight and pressure can place on the neck for a full workday. Consider getting up from your workstation every 30 minutes to move your body. This can be a short walk, a stretch, or simply standing and looking away from your screen.
Everybody is slightly different, so it’s important to consult a professional physical therapist to assess your specific needs.
Neck pain is never comfortable, but luckily there are a few at-home remedies to ease the discomfort. In order to reduce pain and swelling, using a heat or cold pack is a great start along with over-the-counter pain relievers (if approved by your physician and pharmacist). A few ways to decrease neck stiffness, increase mobility and relieve tension, is to do some gentle stretching and massaging of the area. Lastly, if you are experiencing muscle spasms, a muscle relaxant prescription from your physician can help bring your muscles back to a resting and less hyper-excitable state.
And remember, to prevent future neck strain, take breaks from your workstation and build an ergonomic work station that establishes a strain-free healthy workspace.
It sure can! Manual therapy is a hands-on physical therapy method that utilizes joint mobilization, deep tissue, and soft tissue mobilization to create increased flexibility and decreased pain in patients. This method provides a significant reduction in pain and increase in mobility in 1-2 visits on average.
At Results Physiotherapy, a physical therapist will first assess the cause of the neck pain, followed by hands-on therapy, education about future injury prevention, home/office ergonomic assessment, and creating a personalized exercise plan focused on the target strain area. If you are interested in learning more about how our friendly physical therapists can help you relieve pain through manual therapy, schedule an appointment with us today! We look forward to helping you feel better, faster!
