If you’re a geek like me then your almost guaranteed to suffer from geek neck, or specifically for me, ‘Digg neck’. I’ve now found it can lead to a bulging disc!

You need to change your work habits if you don’t want to suffer long term chronic health problems, it’s easier than you think if you follow a few simple tips.

Firstly, identify Geek Neck Symptoms, any of these sounds familiar?
Tingling and numbness at the back of neck
Dull aching pain
Muscle spasms
Stiffness
Headaches
Work absenteeism
Emotional stress
Missed workouts
Poor sleep

After 10 years of working on computers I’ve diagnosed myself with geek neck, now it keeps reoccurring quicker and the pain stays for longer. I’ve got a fairly high pain threshold after playing Rugby for years but it’s come to a point where I’m now getting headaches and really need to fix it once and for all.

After I started filling up tabs on Firefox and dug up some info on where to start, it looks as though neck pain or geek neck is not only more common than i thought, it’s more dangerous. It has long term health problems that can effect your sleep, stress and income. Here is some of my findings to save you the effort of hunting around yourself.

Imagine holding a bowling ball in one place for hours on end.
Your neck is there to hold up your heavy head which is about the same weight as a bowling ball. It’s made up of tendons, muscles, nerves, joints and bones. Imagine the stress on your neck when your holding up a bowling ball for hours on end and without a break!

The neck muscles act like supports that keep your head weight centred and supported. When leaning forward with your head tilted down for hours on end it upsets the body mechanics and balance putting unnatural strain on the neck.

“As we gradually develop poor posture, over time certain muscles become very tight and shortened and other muscles become lax and lengthened,” says Lynn Millar, PhD, professor of physical therapy at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich. “That process further alters posture, putting the spinal column in a less-than-optimal position.”

If this unnatural posture continues for a length of time you will have numerous health problems that could develop into a chronic problem.

Who are the usual suspects of Geek Neck?
The main three bad boys of Geek Neck are:

1. Ergonomically poor keyboard placement
2. High stress
3. Low physical activity.

Keyboard placement is essential. When i first read this i thought otherwise but reading on i found that it really dictates the rest of your posture. It should be nearly sitting in your lap and not near the computer screen (like i had it), you should not be reaching forward and your arms and elbows should not be resting on the table making sure they are at 90 degrees. Also get a footrest and make sure your eyes are level with the top of your screen.

High stress and tension like playing World of War craft all day causes your mind to ignore your body pain. You just plough on and before you know it, you’ve got a chronic neck problem that no amount of stretching can fix. You need rest. You will then have to miss work, get further behind and more stressed! A vicious cycle.

Low physical activity and not taking regular breaks adds up to not only a neck problem but also a total health problem. Start by taking a one minute break every 10 minutes. I know it sounds tedious but just try it for 30min - that’s only 3 minutes. Each minute just top up your coffee, water, (no Redbull ;-P) or stretch and take notice of how you feel, is your neck sore?

Simple Solution to Geek Neck - Don’t put your head in front of your body

First, you have to do other things than sit at your computer, like me, doing 8 to 20h per day will destroy your Neck, Spine, 300 Spartin body and general state of well-being.

1. Strengthen your neck: A strong neck is harder to wear out - do some specialised neck exercises - have a look at this on Bodybuilder.com

2. Simple exercise: nod, yep simple nodding (from front and back, not side to side) is a good simple way to get blood back in your neck fast.
3. Arrange your space: Put your keyboard in the right position, get a foot stool, and get your screen and eyes level. Checkout this Computer Geek illustration on this link.
4. Get that good chair you’ve always wanted, I choose the goovey ones from www.wilkhahn.com
5. Take regular breaks: Start by taking a one minute break every 10 minutes

Conclusion - Change your work habits now or you could suffer a bulging disc, that would take a lot of RedBull to dull the pain.

Once you get a sore neck there are no exercises to do that will zap the problem, only rest will do. So it looks like a forced break away from my ever increasing pile of work to try and recover and learn some long term solutions so it won’t come back. I found an article about a woman who woke up one Sunday morning with a dead arm, she went to the doctor who said she had a bulging disc, this was from prolonged neck strain, or geek neck.

One out of every three people suffer computer neck. A study published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine interviewed 515 office workers in 2003 and found that one-third of the participants complained of neck pain during the previous year. Another study showed that 70 million Americans (nearly as much as people that suffer back pain) suffer computer neck.

I’m probably considered not a normal Computer worker, I would spend more than 7 hours on the computer, I think it would be more up around 10+ hours. Therefore i’m more than guaranteed to suffer geek neck and your are too if you spend these amount of hours online.

There are some serious effects of not changing your habits now, including lifelong chronic health problems but it can be easily fixed if you follow a few of the simple methods above.

More Info:

WEB
www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/computerworkstations/ positions.html — U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration Web site on work positions.

BOOKS
Comfort at Your Computer: Body Awareness Training for Pain-Free Computer Use by Paul Linden (North Atlantic Books, 2000)

Sitting on the Job: A Practical Guide for People Who Earn Their Livings While Sitting by Scott W. Donkin (Basic Health Publications, 2002)

What to Do for a Pain in the Neck by Jerome Schofferman (Fireside Books, 2001)