Every day that I'm at work I see number of people complaining of upper back and neck pain. Upon asking them what they think causes the pain they usually say it's from long hours on the computer or a lot of texting. I'm not surprised with the patient's answers and I think they are correct. Furthermore, I think they could continue to spend the same number of hours on the computer or texting and not experience pain or experience considerably less pain. They could do this by using correct posture, relaxation techniques and go to a chiropractor for regular adjustments.

To avoid pain and still spend hours on a computer or spend hours texting you must make sure you are sitting straight in front of the computer or phone with both feet on the ground, elbows should be bent at a right angle with wrists and fingers relaxed while using the keyboard. The computer/phone screen should be at a height such that you don't have to flex your head and that your eyes don't have to look down more the 15 degrees to see the screen. You should make sure you are sitting up straight with your back against the back of a high back chair. Your shoulders should be back and above your hips. Now that you have the correct posture you should mentally allow your self to relax. You should try to relax your whole body and especially your upper back, neck, arms and hands. If need be, put a note on your computer to tell yourself to relax. Your should check your self every hour to make sure you are relaxing. If you notice you arn't relaxing reset yourself so that you are and at the same time make sure you are holding the correct posture. Lastly, if you spend a lot of time on a computer you are likely to have misaligned bones in the neck and/or upper back due to the repetitive nature of computer work and texting. A chirorpactor can realign the bones reducing the stress on neck and upper back and thus making proper posture and relaxation a even more powerful tool in the prevention of neck and upper back pain caused by computer use and texting.

If you would like to ask me a question about this blog post or about chiropractic in general, you can reach me in Ann Arbor at [email protected]