Neck Pain Support Blog

Smartphone Posture!...

I titled this blog: "Smartphone Posture" because so many of us are guilty of being on our phones all day. And it's not just talking anymore, it's texting, typing, looking up something on the internet...

You guessed it, how's your posture when your doing this? I'm guily of it too. Even though I have the font size increased I'm still hunching forward to email, or look at something.

According to Tina Tang, a persnal trainer in New York City, performing these three movements will help you stand taller and stronger.

Here they are:

1. Squats - Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, squat down (in other words - bring your but to the floor), and come back up. Do this for a few sets of 10-15 repetitions. You can bring your arms across the chest, put them on your hit, or even put them out staight.
2. Lunges - Standing feet shoulder width apart, step forward with one foot and allow the opposite knee to touch the ground.
3. Push-ups - Hold yourself up from a forward lying position. Bring your chest down to thw floor and push up. It's a great over-all exercise.

If your in a posture at a desk and hunched over a phone all day you really need to at the very least, get up and move around. The exercises explained will really help you to break the Smartphone Posture.(Sept 14 Family Circle Magazine)

Sitting hunched over a phone for extended periods also creates a prime environment for neck pain. You may also have forward head posture, shoulders rolled forward... Just sitting too much tends to shorten an tighten the hamstings, which attaches to the butt, which attaches to your spine. Since we are not going to stop using cell phone any time soon, and they can only get so big, make sure you watch your posture!

Additional Reading:

1) The PostureRight

2) "Your Smartphone Is A Pain"

3) Neck Posture

Preventing Neck Pain...

It really helps to hear the latest ways that have shown to be the best ways to prevent neck pain.  We know that to keep up your overall health we need to eat right, exercise, manage our stress, get proper rest, get our spines checked periodically.  In other words, if you do these things, you are doing good.  But here's a couple items more specific for the neck.

• Exercises to strengthen the neck - 

            1. Head Retractions - pretend your head is on a track and slide it backwards.  Gently translate the head posterior.  Don't extend or flex the head and neck, simply glide it back.  A good way to do this at first is to stand in front of a mirror and use your index finger as a guide.

            2. ROM (Ranges of Motion - the directional ranges are: flexion, extension, right lateral flexion, left lateral flexion, right rotation, and left rotation.  Basically, move the head into these directions and repeat.  Do about ten repetitions in each direction.  Use your hand to push against so you have some resistance.         

• Stretches for the neck

            1. Lateral Head Stretch - Simply laterally flex (tilt the head towards one ear).  Hold for ten to fifteen seconds.  You can reach up with your arm and hand on that side, pulling the head into slightly more of a stretch.  

            2. Half Circle Rolls - flex your head forward and roll one ear toward one shoulder, then roll back to the other shoulder. 

Extend the head back and roll again to each shoulder.  Imagine doing full neck circle except that we do them 1/2 and 1/2.  Doing them separate, I find, actually reduces the chances of throwing the neck out of alignment.

• Watch Your Posture - this is a big one.  Posture is actually the "window into looking at the spine".  Looking at our neck from the side, the ear should be aligned with the front of the shoulder.  From the front or back, the neck and head should be straight up and down.  *Some tips to see it: -are the shoulders even in height?, - does the bridge of the nose align with the Adam'a apple?...

 

• Avoid stress - stress doesn't appear to be the actual cause of conditions, however it actually makes everything and anything worse.  There have been numerous studies showing the negative effects of stress.  There is no doubt it effects ones health.  Directly, most people carry much of their tension and stress right across the shoulder

• Your Pillow - last but not least - what you use almost every night! I just talked to someone who uses a feather pillow and feels like she has no support.  Well, she's right.  Often times, it'll flatten to basically nothing under your neck.  That isn't what you want... Your neck wants to have a 40-60 degree curvature.  If your pillow is flat, those degrees become 0!

My suggestion is to get a neck pillow you like.  My favorite, and the one I use every night is the Arc4Life Cervical Traction Neck Pillow.

Are You Sleep Depriived?

There is no question sleep plays a big role in your health.  A neck pillow may help but there can be a number of other reasons you're not getting your zzz's.

Here are 10 reasons you may be sleep depived: (these are supplied by Shelby Freedman Harris, diector of Behavioral Sleep Medicine at Montrfiore Medial Center in New York City).

1. You Fall Asleep Immediately - I mean you zonk out as soon as you hit the pillow.  Falling asleep in a timely fashion is mostly a good thing, but if you snooze almost before you go to bed you may be sleep deprived.
2. You are not acting like yourself - often very short or impulsive; another sign you are lacking in the sleep department.
3. You are using a lot of cliches and/or studdering.  People with deprived sleep may find it difficult to have quick, complicated speech from constructive thinking.
4. You're forgeting things.  Lack of sleep may also decrease your memory. Have you ever tried to pull that all-nighter before a test - it rarely works out.
5. Are You Hungrier Than Usual? Lack of sleep may effect your hormones; specifically leptin, and ghrelin.  These hormones tell us to stop eating or to do the opposite - eat.  "Oh man..."
6. You can't concentrate.  Think of the time where you might have said I'll sleep on and be better in the morning.  There's truth to that, if you can't seem to concentrate, you might need sleep.
7. Your clumsier or less coordinated.  Yes, lack of sleep will start to affect your motor skills.  Most car accidents are actually due to lack of sleep than solely alcohol.
8. You are fighting with your partner.  A 2013 U. C. Berkeley study found that couples had more serious, as well as, more frequent fights when they haven't been sleeping.
9. You're "zoning" or "zoning out".  The times where someone was talking to you and you find yourself sayin: "what was that again", but not due to trouble  hearing.
10. You often fall asleep during the day.  Do you catch yourself passing out well before bed time - you might be sleep depived.

You may find youself doing any one of things at any given time, but if you notice that these things are happening consistantly and multiple things on this list are common for you, you might be suffering from sleep deprivation.

 

Disc Definitions: What Do I Have?

A disc issue can be classied in many ways.  First let's talk about the kind of disc it may be overall:

1. There's Disc Bulges
2. A Degenerative Disc
3. Herniated Disc
4. A Disc Tear or Fissure

 

Let's talk about each one.  But first to do that you need to know that the discs is human beings are between almost each bone of the spine and are like a cushion or shock absorber.  The is a soft interior called the nucleus and an outer, more cartilagenous exterior, called the annulus.

A Bulge is when the inner disc pushes outward which inturn pushes on the annulus (creating a "bulge"), but dis material does not break through outside the disc.

A Disc can also flatten, much like a pankake or flat tire.  This is typically seen as degeneration.  It will often flatten and bulge.  Now that bulge may be concentric (all the way around), or bulge more at the points of weakness.  On an image one may see other forms of degeneration or arthritis such as bone deterioration or something of the like.

Next let's talk about a hernation.  When that disc material does come out, or breaks through the annulus, you have a disc herniation.  That herniation can technically be a protrusion or extrusion.

In other words is the base of the herniation bigger or smaller than the distance from the disc outwards.

Next, where is the disc: central, lateral, or poterolateral; these are the most common.  So, is that disc straight back, is it on the left or right side, or is it posterolateral (back and side), weakest area of the disc.  This type of disc often nears or contact the nerve root because this is where the nerves exit off the spinal cord.

There can also be a disc sequester.  This is when that hernation breaks from the body of the disc.  Sequestered discs can also be a problem because they are free floating.  This means they can move to an unfavorable spot...

Adisc can also have a tear or fissure.  This is where the disc may protrude out of.  If the tear isn't very bad however, and the disc material retracts back however, the fibers of the disc may heal to a certain extent.

Lastly, I thought of note is that you may seem the term "disc" or "disk" which refer to the same thing.  Keep in mind that many use some terms fairly synonomously, such as in the previous example or the words: arthritis and degeneration, etc.

 

Addional Reading:

• bulged disc
• acute neck pain
• neck posture can help