DOES WRITING GIVE YOU A PAIN IN THE NECK?

by Patricia Bradley (If you're a writer, be sure to check out the information at the end about a really neat writing conference)

One of my goals this year is to step out of my comfort zone and what better way than to write a blog about neck exercises and use myself as a model. Scary thought.

Because these exercises have helped me so much, I wanted to share them with other writers or anyone who sits behind a computer all day. As you know writing is sedentary work and can result in neck, shoulder, and back pain. I should know. I am in the middle of physical therapy for said back and neck pain. And I want to share a couple of the exercises I've been doing

Before I continue, I am not a physical therapist, and if you have any doubts about doing exercises, consult your doctor.

Pain in my neck and back resulted in a visit to my doctor who sent me to a physical therapist. He gave me a set of exercises and worked on my neck and back--work that included dry needling. And while I'm not pain-free--I am after all of the older generation--I am at least able to write.

The first exercise is a stretching exercise for the neck. Sit in a chair, (can be your office chair) and place one hand on top of your head and the other behind your back. Make sure you are sitting tall.

Disregard all the kitty toys in the floor and the flower coming out of my head.

Next, pull your head over like you were trying to smell under your arm. Hold this stretch for a count of 20. Be sure to focus on letting those muscles relax. 

Go ahead, try it. I'll wait.

Doesn't that feel good!

Now do the same thing for the other side. I do ten of these every morning after I get out of bed. This is after I've stretched my hamstrings (before getting up). If you have tight hamstrings, you probably have back pain. Tight hamstrings = shorten muscles that support your back. And this can cause pain.

The next exercises I do are head turns and shoulder rolls. For the head turn, I sit straight and look as far as I can to the left for a count of 10. If I'm looking to the left, I put my right arm behind my back. This gives more stretch. Be sure to repeat the first exercise by turning your neck as far to the right as you can.

The shoulder rolls are just that. Rolling your shoulders, first one way, then another. I also put my fingertips on my shoulders and make an arc with my elbows until they touch, then reverse the process.

Then there's the sideways tilt--it is similar to the first exercise, except you try to touch your ear to your shoulder instead of smelling under your arm. :-) And the last one is to stand straight (Like a marine at attention) and press your index finger against your chin. Hold that for 20 seconds. 

When I started these exercises, I set a timer and did them about every 4 hours. Now I only do them first thing in the morning. But I have increased how long I hold each stretch to a minute.

I really want to encourage anyone who sits at a desk all day to find some type of stretching exercise. These just happen to be the ones that have helped me to stay pain freer...if that's a word. At my age, pain and I are old friends. But I believe in exercise. I was facing knee replacement surgery a few years ago, but exercise and collagen injections have kept me out of the OR!

Before I go, I must mention how important it is to have your computer screen where you are looking straight at it instead of looking down. 

Looking down is what I've done for 20 years, but now I've bought a desk that raises and a thingy that I set my laptop on so that I'm looking straight at it instead of looking down.

What exercises do you do to feel better? Leave a comment and I'll enter you in a drawing for Crosshairs.


Now for our readers who are also writers, here's that writer's conference I told you about earlier. It's on Saturday and it's virtual--that means you can attend in your pajamas! You can check it out here.

And...the day before, I'm teaching a workshop with Johnnie Alexander! That's on Friday March 18, 2022. Here's the blurb and link: