Recent unprecedented situation due to pandemic has made Work From Home a new normal. Unfortunately, after almost 4 months we all gripped by Work From Home Burn Out, manifested by mental & physical stress like cervical spondylosis.
Work from home gives us the flexibility to do our office work from home without going anywhere. But, mental stress and flexibility to work in awkward body posture are hurting our neck.
In this article, I am going to break down four most effective exercises to prevent WFH neck pain.
Table of Contents
Reason for WFH neck pain
While mental stress itself is one of the important cause of WFH neck pain, the most important cause is, of course, is the bad posture.
When we are working from home we are in a kind of a 24 hours duty situation. We have to need to keep to focus on our work amongst all kind of homely disturbances like children, home chorus to mention a few. This giving rise to the mental stress.
Also, work from home gives us the freedom to work in any posture we like, it may be comfortable posture but that might be ergonomically not fit. All these has a bad impact on our neck and other physical issues.
But, if you exercise between every hour of work, it can greatly reduce this kind of pain. They are very simple to do exercises and it takes only 5 to 10 minutes to perform.
So, what are these exercises?
#1 Neck stretching exercise
Chances are our neck muscles get stiff due to bad posture, poor sleep and the mental stress we take. Stretching the stiff neck muscles can greatly reduce the pain almost instantly and the good thing is that it is very easy to do.
So to stretch the left side neck muscle take your right hand over your temple area and hold the head. Then pull it to the right side and you should feel a mild stretching on your left side neck muscles. Stretch it to the point where you can bear it and hold the stretched position for a minimum of 60 seconds, then release it slowly.
Now, repeat the same process on the right side neck muscles. Perform this exercise two to three times in a single session.
#2 Upper back stretching exercises
The muscles around the upper back region between the two shoulder blades are the most common area where muscles get stiff. It is due to the alert posture and of course due to the mental stress.
So to stretch the upper back muscle, raise your shoulder and bring your arm, forearm in front of the chest. To stretch the left side bring the left arm in front of the chest and take your right hand and place it over the elbow region. Then pull It Inside towards the chest, you will feel a nice stretching on your left side upper back.
This is a stretching exercise so hold this position for minimum of 60 seconds and then release it slowly.
Now, repeat the same process on the right side shoulder, 2 to 3 repetitions in a single session is recommended.
#3 Neck side bending exercise
Sit straight and then bend your neck to one side and hold this position for 5 seconds, then again bend It to the opposite side hold it for 5 seconds. This is a kind of range of motion exercise which will relax the muscles around your neck.
Repeat this exercise for 10 to 15 times in a single session.
#4 Neck rotation exercise
Sit/stand straight and then rotate your neck to the one side, let’s do it to the left side and hold it for 5 seconds and then rotate it to the right side again hold it for 5 seconds.
Repeat this alternate side rotation for 10 to 15 times in a single session.
Final words
By following these simple tips, you can greatly reduce your neck pain and other kinds of physical strains. One more thing I would like to suggest is while working from home make one area of your home a separate work area. This way you will be away from disturbances, and you can focus on your work.
This will help to reduce mental stress to a comfortable level. Take a break every hour, move around your house, do their exercises as I have suggested and you will feel much better than before.
Read More: Why my desk job is killing me?
Dr Sunit Sanjay Ekka is a physiotherapist in practice for the last 15 years. He has done his BPT from one of the premium Central Government physiotherapy colleges, ie, SVNIRTAR. The patient is his best teacher and whatever he gets to learn he loves to share it on his Youtube channel and blog.
