5 Resolutions for a Year with Less Neck Pain

Maybe turning your head has become painful or there’s a dull ache that plagues you day and night. However your neck pain shows up, it’s surprising just how large the impact can be on your life.

In any three-month period, about 15% of adults in the United States encounter neck pain and up to 85% of these people run into the problem again within the next five years. In other words, neck pain is often recurring.

If you want to break from neck pain in the new year and beyond, you’ve come to the right place. After all, the name of our practice is Revive Spine and Pain Center, which means our team has an enormous amount of experience, and success, in helping patients to navigate chronic neck pain.

Based on this experience, here’s what we recommend for making this the year you put neck pain in the rearview mirror.

Strengthen the muscles that support your neck

Your neck has a lot of responsibility. For starters, it supports your head, and the average human head weighs 10-11 pounds. This might not seem like a lot, but hour after hour, the strain can add up. 

Your neck also allows you to use your senses — you turn your head to see or hear something.

Our point here is that your neck works hard, and you can help it function better by strengthening the muscles that support your neck. 

These exercises should include the muscles in your neck, as well as surrounding muscles in your shoulders and upper back. By strengthening these muscles, you can take the pressure off your cervical spine and relieve a good deal of spine- and strain-related neck pain.

A good place to start is with these exercises at this link, and we’re happy to supply you with some more.

Get your screens up

As we mentioned, that 11-pound head can get heavy, but it gets even heavier if you’re looking down at a screen. Americans spend about seven hours each day looking at screens and, in many cases, looking down at screens, which is a fast track to neck pain.

So, keep your screens up at eye level, which can go a long way toward preventing neck pain.

Pay attention to posture

Keeping your eyes and head up is a good first step in relieving the pressure on your neck, but you can also support your neck better by ensuring that your foundational posture is correct. This means keeping your back straight, your shoulders back, and both feet firmly planted on the floor.

Get up and move

Neck strain is a big complaint, and it often happens if you keep your neck in one position for long periods, such as when you’re at a desk or on the couch watching TV. You can do your neck, and the rest of your body, a big favor by getting up to move and stretch at least once every hour.

Get help for ongoing neck pain

If your neck pain persists, please come see us. As we mentioned, we have no small amount of experience in the field of neck pain, and we’ve helped many patients to find meaningful relief. 

In fact, we suggest that you come see us from the start so we can manage your neck pain while you take the above steps to reinforce the work we do here. That way, together, we can make your neck pain a thing of the past.

To get started on an effective neck pain plan for the coming year, contact us at one of our conveniently located offices in Marlton, Hamilton Township, Northfield, or East Brunswick, New Jersey, to schedule a consultation.