Articles
Neck Pain
Get rid of that pain in the neck!
You roll out of bed and suddenly you feel it! A stifling pain in your neck. You can't move your head without feeling an unwelcome twinge, and stretching does not help. You're not alone. Odds are that eight out of ten necks, of persons of 18 and over will hurt a little, a lot, or an awful lot sometime in their lives. Only the common cold tops back and neck pain as the leading cause of work absenteeism.
The real causes of most back pain may surprise you. Just like heart disease and lung cancer, neck and back pain usually develop over time without you realising it. The problem is almost always a repetitive strain type injury.
Your chronic backache or killer neck pain, or the back that "goes out" once in a while are injuries that usually develop slowly from harmful patterns that you do every day. One example of a poor habit is sitting too much. Sitting is very tough on your back and neck often resulting in pain. Although often mistaken for a mysterious, permanent, unavoidable, back and neck pain are almost always easily treated, and more easily prevented. Back pain is often a result of weak/tight back muscles, weak abdominal muscles resulting in muscular imbalances. Poor posture will almost certainly lead to back pain eventually.
Some overlooked contributors to back pain are;
- Leg posture: Keep your knees facing straight ahead rather than facing out or in. Keep them in line with your ankle joint with your weight evenly balanced
- Big tummy!: The extra load and altered posture of a fat tum are tough on your back and neck by having your back support the load.
- Walking "hard": Shocks your spine and adds to early wear and tear.
- High heels: Wearing these too often alter almost everything natural about your foot, leg, and back posture all the way up to your neck.
- Old shoes: Shoes that are unevenly worn or don't fit right alter your posture.
- Chairs: Whenever you sit your spine should be in alignment, checkout the position of your pelvis, shoulders and head.
- Mattress/pillow: Should both be comfortable, but supportive.
- Smoking : It adds to disc degeneration
This just scratches the surface of what is behind neck and back pain, but you get the idea. The continuous pull of bad posture habits will eventually reshape your body but in an unhealthy way. It's not just lifting wrong one day, the effects are cumulative, like smoking. Look after your back, it has to last all your life!