The nature of our jobs sometimes puts us at great health risk. For most people doing sedentary desk jobs, neck soreness and pain can be a common problem, especially if spending long hours seated at the desk. That is because of the sitting postures that cause neck muscles to decondition, leading to a stiff neck. You may experience soreness and aches if you spend long periods at your desk. That can at times develop into more serious episodes of sharp pain that make it extremely difficult to move your neck freely. To have a pain-free day at your desk, you need to know how to manage the neck pains.

There are several strategies that you can use to ensure neck aches do not hinder your work. The strategies help you avoid or ease the pain in your neck. The following are some of the things you can do to alleviate the problem.

• Practicing good posture
• Taking breaks
• Using ice or heat therapy
• Using pain relievers
• Gentle stretching and massage

Your sitting posture has a big impact on your neck. It is a major cause for neck pains. You need to adopt a good, healthy sitting posture to avoid neck aches. Always try to sit straight, with your feet flat on the ground. Your back should also be flush against your seat and your head should be such that the ears are directly above your shoulders. Always adjust the height of your chair such that your thighs angle down slightly. That allows you to avoid rounding your lower back, which may force you into a poor posture.

If your job involves a lot of sitting, you need to take frequent breaks. Rather than sit continuously throughout the day, you can take a few minutes to walk around from time to time. That will improve blood circulation. It will also provide a change in your body’s posture, thus reducing the effects of sitting for too long. The break provides you a break from a previous posture, which may have been contributing to your neck pain.

Ice is a great pain reliever. If you constantly experience neck aches, you can apply ice or a cold pack. That will relieve the pain and reduce swelling. Heat therapy helps to relax muscles. It offers relief from pain and neck stiffness.

Gentle stretches and massages can be great at relaxing muscles and relieving pain. They help relieve muscle soreness and can help you recover from a stiff neck. Slow movements of the head forwards, sideways and backwards will help you relax your neck muscles and relieve the pain. Massaging the sore neck muscles will also provide relief especially where it is not possible to move the neck.