BY DR. ARNAN SISSON// JULY 14, 2023

Today we’re going over a very important piece of knowledge for anyone out there that’s currently suffering with any sort of neck pain. It’s the single most cause of neck pain 90% of the time. By knowing this you can get yourself or a loved one further away from the mounds of Tylenol and the fear of having to have a painful neck fusion surgery.

The most common position I see in the clinic that causes neck pain is a forward head posture. This is where the neck and chin stick forward. It’s a position that’s very easy to get in over the years, and it wrecks compete havoc on the muscles and joints of the neck. The worst part though is that most of the time you wouldn’t know this. Often folks come into the practice and aren’t quite sure of the true cause of their neck and maybe even arm pain. It’s seemed to creep up on them slowly, and this is more often than not due to years of this position.

We could end the article right here, and you would already be ahead of the game. But I think we should put some icing on the cake. Below I’m going to explain four simple ways we can actually take care of this problem in a realistic way.

First, we want to alter how we work and hang around the house. At the office if you’re on the computer its best to scoot the computer closer to you, scoot the chair forward, and get the device directly in front of you. This will automatically bring your chin back into a better position.

At home the television can be brought closer to the couch or chairs or vice versa. If the television is mounted, try to lower it if its too high. Often times a very high placement of the tv magnifies the forward head position and worsens pain.

The second thing we can do is change positions every 30 minutes. Even if you have the worst posture in the world, by changing positions you off put the stress to the neck. This in turn will help you significantly cut down on pain levels and your intake of pain killers.

The third thing you can do is simply have great posture. Easier said that done though. If you just try to maintain great posture with your chest up and a straight back you’ll lose the position within minutes. This isn’t a realistic approach.

A better way is to scoot back in your chair (at home, work, car), and simply place a small towel, pillow, or McKenzie roll in the small of your back. This will automatically push your chest up and bring the chin back; thus, reduce the stress to the joint structures of the neck as well as your back.

The last tip would be to check you vision. If its off and your squinting. Its very likely your taking up a forward head posture to better see the TV or computer. By just getting some glasses you can easily reduce your neck pain or headaches if this is the case.

Feel free to try one or even all of these tips if you have neck pain. I’ve found that simple works very well with neck pain, and with these realistic positioning changes you can effectively treat your neck all day long. Not just that, but get back to enjoying work again, playing with your kids, and maybe even be able to finally take a vacation or two. Life is definitely too short to have to worry about neck pain.

That’s it for today everyone, remember movement is medicine!

P.S. What scares people the most about neck pain is that they feel surgery or pain pill addiction is inevitable. Mainly because they’re not sure of the true cause. It seems to have crept up on them over the years. And gradually they stop working out, stop walking, stop doing yoga, stop playing with their kids, the list goes on. 

If you've suffered long enough, and your just ready to get this thing fixed. No problem! Just shoot us a call at (804) 493-0002 to book your evaluation today.