Neck and Shoulder Pain From Desk Work?

Why It Keeps Coming Back

You start the morning feeling pretty good.

Coffee? Check.

Inbox? Open.

Neck? Functional.

Then 3:30 p.m. arrives.

Your shoulders have somehow migrated toward your ears. There’s a knot beside your shoulder blade that feels like it has signed a long-term lease. Turning your head to check your blind spot requires moving your entire upper body.

So you stretch your neck.

Ahhh.

For approximately 11 seconds.

Then the tension comes right back.

If this sounds familiar, your desk may not be damaging your body, but your body may be getting very tired of doing the same thing for eight hours a day.

And here’s where things get interesting.

The place that hurts isn’t always the place causing the problem.

Is Sitting Actually Bad for You?

Not exactly.

Sitting has acquired a terrible reputation, but your body isn’t going to collapse because you sat in a chair.

The bigger issue is often lack of movement and variety.

Your body is remarkably adaptable. If you spend hours every day looking at a monitor, reaching for a mouse, typing or leaning slightly toward one side, your muscles adapt to those demands.

Some muscles spend long periods working to stabilize you. Others remain relatively inactive. Some stay in shortened positions while others spend hours in lengthened positions.

None of this automatically means something is wrong.

But eventually your body may start sending increasingly unsubtle messages:

"Could we please move?"

Ignore those messages long enough and mild stiffness can become persistent tension, restricted movement or pain.

Why Do Your Shoulders Feel Like Concrete?

Your head is surprisingly heavy.

An adult head weighs roughly 10 to 12 pounds, or 4.5 to 5.5 kg.

Fortunately, your body is extremely good at supporting it.

But think about what happens when you're concentrating on a screen.

Your head gradually moves forward.

Your shoulders begin rounding.

Maybe your second monitor is slightly off to one side.

Your right arm reaches repeatedly for your mouse.

Meanwhile, the muscles around your neck, shoulders and upper back continuously make tiny adjustments.

Do this for five minutes?

Probably not a big deal.

Repeat it for hours every day?

Your body may have some opinions.

Your Mouse May Be More Important Than You Think

Try something right now.

Put your hand on your computer mouse.

Don't correct anything. Just notice your normal position.

Where is your shoulder?

Are you reaching forward?

Is your elbow far from your body?

Is your shoulder slightly elevated?

Now imagine maintaining some version of that position for several hours.

Sometimes seemingly insignificant habits become significant simply because they're repeated thousands of times.

The same applies to your monitor, laptop, phone, keyboard and chair.

You don't necessarily need an expensive ergonomic workstation.

Sometimes moving your mouse six inches closer is a surprisingly good beginning.

Why Doesn't Stretching Fix It?

Your neck feels tight, so you stretch it.

Immediate relief.

Twenty minutes later, you're tight again.

That doesn't necessarily mean stretching doesn't work.

You may simply have temporarily changed how the area feels without changing what contributed to the tension.

Think about the math.

Eight hours of relatively repetitive positioning.

Thirty seconds of stretching.

Which one do you think wins?

This is why small amounts of movement throughout your day can be so valuable.

Stand up.

Walk around.

Move your shoulders.

Look away from the screen.

Gently move your neck through comfortable ranges.

Change positions.

Your next posture doesn't need to be perfect.

It just needs to be different.

But What About That One Spot That ALWAYS Hurts?

This is where things become more interesting.

You may have one specific spot between your neck and shoulder, or beside your shoulder blade, that constantly bothers you.

Naturally, that's where you want someone to massage.

But pain tells us where you're experiencing the symptom. It doesn't necessarily tell us everything contributing to it.

Your neck, shoulder, shoulder blade, upper back and chest don't function independently.

Muscles and joints throughout these areas work together to produce and control movement.

That means repeatedly attacking one sore spot isn't necessarily the complete answer.

Sometimes the more useful question is:

"Why does this particular area keep having to work so hard?"

When Is It Time to See a Massage Therapist?

An occasional stiff neck after a marathon day at the computer isn't necessarily unusual.

It's different when the same problem keeps returning.

Consider having it assessed when your neck or shoulder tension regularly returns, your movement feels restricted, discomfort interferes with sleep or work, you repeatedly develop painful areas around the shoulder blades, or you're constantly stretching and massaging yourself without getting lasting relief.

At Visacova Santé Massothérapie in Ahuntsic, therapeutic massage isn't about automatically performing the same treatment on every sore neck.

We look at what you're experiencing, how you're moving and what may be contributing to the problem.

Treatment may incorporate deep tissue massage, trigger point work, myofascial techniques, stretching, neuromuscular techniques, cupping or Sarcomere Massage Technique depending on your individual needs.

Because sometimes the most important question isn't:

"Where does it hurt?"

It's:

"Why does it keep hurting there?"

Book a therapeutic massage at Visacova Santé Massothérapie in Ahuntsic, Montreal.

Your shoulders can return to their traditional location, somewhere considerably farther away from your ears.