No one likes going to sleep with a headache and waking up to find it hasn’t gone away. Without a doubt, neck pain and headaches are the most common reason people come to see me in clinic. That constant, nagging headache that develops over the day at work and makes it difficult to concentrate. You are not alone. Headaches are a common complaint in the everyday office worker.
Headaches can originate from a variety of structures within the head and neck, so it is important to see your Osteopath, Physiotherapist, Myotherapist or other health professional to find out what the cause of your headache is.
Long periods of time with the neck bent forwards (laptop use, texting on your phone) are notorious for putting increased stress and strain on muscles, ligaments and joints in the neck and upper back. To make things worse, the introduction of smart phones and gadgets such as Apple watches, iPads and tablets has made postures of prolonged neck bending even more common.
The main issue with laptops and phone use is that it places our necks into these sustained neck bending positions, which places strain on the muscles in the top of the neck and base of the skull. Consequently, this is where many people feel their headaches are coming from!
A couple of tips for those who can’t get away from the perils of laptop use are this:
1 ) Invest in a good laptop riser, which you can purchase from stores like Officeworks. It will help to raise the height of your laptop so your neck isn’t in a terrible position.
2) You will also need to invest in an external mouse and keyboard to go with the laptop riser. This will allow you to have your shoulders in a more comfortable position when using the laptop.
3) Try taking a break from your workdesk every hour or two to walk around the office, or switch your focus from the laptop screen. Some gentle neck and shoulder rolls can help keep the muscles active and moving, to reduce your chance of developing a headache.
Check out my set up below – the laptop riser raised the height of the screen to reduce flexed neck postures and the external keyboard allows me to push the monitor back to further reduce awkward neck postures. It has completely resolved my headaches and at little cost! And the coffee…. well it keeps me on my feet!!
