Computer or phone neck is a term we use when describing the sore neck you get after letting your head sit forward of your body for a while.
You can just feel it can’t you? You’ve been on the computer or on the phone for a while now and your head is slipping forward.
You can feel the tension at the base of your neck and along the top of your shoulder blade.
What’s happening? Your trapezius muscle is trying to help support your head but there are quite a few kilos there to try and cope with (actually about 22kg if your neck is at 45 degrees). It’s getting more and more painful.
What to do?
Get out of that posture for a start. Stand up. Look around. Its always good to break a posture after about 20-30 minutes. It gives your muscles a chance to recover.
When you sit back down, pinch your trapezius. This is simple but it works.
Start close to your neck, grab a bundle of muscle and pinch.
It will hurt. But its good hurt not bad.
You will probably get some referral up your neck and into your head. That’s OK but don’t give yourself a headache. Ease off until you can just feel it. Hold on for about 30s then move a little further along the muscle and pinch again. If it doesn’t hurt, move on. If it does, pinch for 30s. Keep both shoulders down – don’t scrunch up.
Get the idea? Pinch all the way along between your neck and your shoulder.
This is really just a quick and easy move to stop that muscle tension from building. Give it a try.
If you would like to stretch the trapezius muscle, here are some simple and clear instructions on how to do it from “Dynamic Phys therapy”