Over 80% of people will experience neck pain at some point. Since the onset of the pandemic, remote work has transformed into a long-term reality, and with it, reports of chronic neck pain have surged. Working from home often means spending hours in front of screens with less-than-ideal ergonomic setups. As a result, more individuals are struggling with persistent neck pain that interferes with their daily routines and quality of life.
But what’s causing this surge in neck pain, and how can we address it effectively? The truth is that most neck pain isn’t simply a localized issue—it’s often a sign of deeper imbalances in the body. And while conventional treatments like pain relievers or neck braces offer temporary relief, they rarely address the root cause. This is where somatic therapy can play a pivotal role in alleviating chronic neck pain by focusing on body awareness, movement patterns, and whole-body integration.
In this article, we’ll explore some everyday computer habits contributing to chronic neck pain for remote workers and offer suggestions to help you regain comfort and ease.
How Somatic Therapy Can Relieve Neck Pain
Understanding the sources of your chronic neck pain is the first step to finding relief. When it comes to chronic neck pain, the nervous system—not just the muscles and bones—is the true driver behind pain and tension patterns.
This approach doesn’t just focus on the physical body but considers the entire mind-body connection. Using gentle, mindful movements, somatic therapy helps the nervous system reset habitual tension patterns, reduce pain, and improve overall body function. Here’s how it can help you:
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Retrains the Nervous System
Somatic therapy’s key benefit is its ability to retrain the nervous system. Chronic tension and pain often result from how the nervous system perceives safety and movement. With guided, slow movements and sensory awareness exercises, somatic therapy helps the nervous system learn to release tension and allow for more fluid, pain-free movement.
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Increases Awareness of Bodily Sensations
Becoming aware of how you move and where you hold tension is crucial for breaking the cycle of chronic pain. Somatic therapy encourages clients to tune in to their bodies through small, focused movements. This increased awareness helps individuals detect subtle signs of tension or imbalance and make minor adjustments to prevent pain from escalating.
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Teaches People to Feel Safe in Their Bodies
Chronic neck pain is often exacerbated by stress, anxiety, or past trauma that can cause the nervous system to stay in a heightened state of tension. Somatic therapy creates a safe, supportive environment where clients can gently explore their physical sensations, emotions, and thoughts without judgment. By doing so, individuals can feel safe in their bodies, helping the nervous system shift out of a state of chronic tension and into one of greater ease and relaxation.
The Not-So-Familiar Causes of Chronic Neck Pain
The causes of chronic neck pain are as varied as the individuals who experience it. Understanding some of the most common contributors can shed light on your situation and help guide you toward relief. Here are a few culprits that go unaddressed:
- Poor breathing habits
- Eye strain
- Sitting in one posture for long periods
- Jaw clenching
These aren’t the only causes of neck pain, but one or more might resonate with your experience. Take a moment to unveil some of your habits while working at your computer. With your hands on the keyboard and looking at the screen:
- Draw a horizontal line from one shoulder to the other. Does this shoulder line stack your shoulders over the back of your waist or sit bones? Or over your lower belly or the top of your thighs? When you allow the horizontal shoulder line to stack over the back waistline, you tend to sit taller or upright, and your head is carried back and away from the computer screen.
- Bring your awareness to the space that can exist between the top teeth and the bottom teeth. Is it there? Or do you clench your jaw or tighten other muscle groups without realizing it, closing off the space? With your lips together, allow the lower jaw and chin to hang slightly. Soften the tongue position within the mouth. You may notice that you take a spontaneous breath.
- As you look at your computer screen, allowing your eyes to follow the words you are reading, can you slowly allow your awareness to include more of the computer screen’s edges? Continue reading and then include the room or wall surrounding the computer. Do this without directly diverting your eyes to those areas. As you continue to read and be aware of a “peripheral view,” you may take another spontaneous inhale. As you continue to read, you will notice less tension around your eyes, as though the eyes feel like they are expanding outward rather than narrowing your focus or visual field. So often, when we are engaged in working on the computer, we are drawn toward the computer screen, and our breathing becomes very shallow. Throughout your work time on the computer, experiment with expanding your awareness of the periphery you will be working on. Allow the in-breath to be a little deeper and a little longer…allow the lower jaw to disengage…and allow the muscular tension around the face to soften.
- How often do you take breaks to move and stretch? Drinking more water and drinking often will increase the need to go to the washroom and empty your bladder! Take advantage of this mini-break to move and stretch.
Identifying these unconscious patterns is the first step toward relief. Once you understand what’s contributing to your discomfort, you can begin addressing it and working toward a pain-free future.
More: What’s the Most Important Benefit of Maintaining an “Arc” of Neutral Posture?
By focusing on the nervous system’s role in pain and healing, somatic therapy offers a holistic, science-backed approach to managing chronic neck pain. This method empowers individuals to address the root cause of their discomfort and cultivate healthier movement patterns that lead to lasting relief.