Struggling With Neck and Upper Back Pain at Work? Here Are Our Top 5 Tips to Help.

Struggling with neck and upper back pain at work? Here are our top 5 tips to help.

Do you experience pain in your neck or upper back when you’re working at the office? You’re not alone. Office workers actually have the highest incidence of neck disorders among all other occupations. We know this can be frustrating for you, so here are 5 exercise and environmental tips that might help.

1. Do strength training, regularly.

A recent systematic review found that regular strength training significantly reduced pain in office workers suffering with non-specific neck pain, compared to those who did no exercise at all or only health promotional activities. (1) However, tailored exercise prescription (completing targeted exercises for painful areas in the neck and upper back region) was found to be even more effective than general strengthening. We recommend continuing with your normal strength training, however incorporating some more targeted exercises may be beneficial.

2. Change your posture throughout the day.

If you find your neck or back discomfort worsening throughout the day, you may benefit from changing your posture more frequently. Doing the same thing all day without moving and self-perceived muscular tension are both risk factors for developing neck pain. (2) As they say, your best posture is your next posture!

3. Have a walking meeting or take a break.

You now know that changing your posture more frequently might help. How about adding in a few walking meetings or a short walk to break up the work day? An increase of only 1,000 steps per day has been shown to reduce neck pain by 14% and may be protective of developing neck pain in the first place. (3)

4. Book in for some soft-tissue therapy.

Pain is complex and there is a strong link between psychological factors such as stress, anxiety and tension and neck pain. While we don’t encourage relying on manual therapy as a long-term solution, it may assist in relieving pain and also enhancing that rest-and-digest response which can help to reduce anxiety and stress. (4)

5. Get good quality sleep.

You know those days when you’ve had a bad sleep the night before and everything feels worse? Well, sleep is a key part of pain management. Research has consistently shown that sleep deprivation is associated with increased pain. (5) If you want to learn more about improving your sleep, check out this video on our YouTube channel.

Start small and make one change at a time. You might actually find one of these tips is enough to help. That said, walking more, moving frequently, sleeping well and lifting weights often is a winning combination to support your overall health and wellbeing.

If you need some help solving your neck pain, click the link below to have a conversation with one of our Exercise Physiologists.

• References

  1. Louw S, Makwela S, Manas L, Meyer L, Terblanche D, Brink Y. Effectiveness of exercise in office workers with neck pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis. S Afr J Physiother. 2017 Nov 28;73(1):392. doi: 10.4102/sajp.v73i1.392. PMID: 30135909; PMCID: PMC6093121.

  2. Jun D, Zoe M, Johnston V, O'Leary S. Physical risk factors for developing non-specific neck pain in office workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2017 Jul;90(5):373-410. doi: 10.1007/s00420-017-1205-3. Epub 2017 Feb 21. PMID: 28224291.

  3. Sitthipornvorakul E, Janwantanakul P, Lohsoonthorn V. The effect of daily walking steps on preventing neck and low back pain in sedentary workers: a 1-year prospective cohort study. Eur Spine J. 2015 Mar;24(3):417-24. doi: 10.1007/s00586-014-3577-3. Epub 2014 Sep 11. PMID: 25208502.

  4. Wang SQ, Jiang AY, Gao Q. Effect of manual soft tissue therapy on the pain in patients with chronic neck pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2022 Jun 12;49:101619. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2022.101619. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35988324.

  5. Whale K, Gooberman-Hill R. The Importance of Sleep for People With Chronic Pain: Current Insights and Evidence. JBMR Plus. 2022 Jun 17;6(7):e10658. doi: 10.1002/jbm4.10658. PMID: 35866153; PMCID: PMC9289983.