8/2/2019 Week 18 Health

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Question: While notebilitating, the painn my neck is becom-

ng, well, a real pain inhe neck. I don't knowhat I did to bring it

n, but is there any-hing I can do to maket go away?

Answer: Doctorsstimate that 70 per-ent of us will beroubled by neckain at some point

n our lives. One in0 adults hurts rightow, and in someases, the pain is badnough to limitork and play.Sometimes a sin-

le event like gettingear-ended in a carrash is to blame,ut usually the neckegins to ache afterears of overuse orven a brief misusef muscles and liga-ents. Today's com-uter-dominatedorkplace can be es-

ecially tough onecks, because soany of us sit with

shoulders slumpedand heads extendedtoward monitors.

Why is neck pain,which often spreadsto the shoulders, socommon? Your necknot only supports aheavy weight your head but italso allows you totilt, turn and nod.This feat requires acombination ofstrength and flexibil-ity, which is pro-vided by a complexnetwork of muscles,bones, tendons andnerves. All of thosemoving parts arevulnerable to strainand injury.

There is no magicbullet for neck pain.But take heart. Neckpain is rarely a seri-ous medical prob-lem, and in mostcases, you can man-age it yourself with acombination of pa-

tience, exercises andmild pain relievers.But if you have

warning signs suchas arm weakness ornumbness, fever,weight loss or diffi-culty swallowing,get medical help.

When your neckhurts, even simplemovements can bepainful. Althoughyou may feel like

keeping your headand neck as still aspossible, start gentleneck exercises. Atfirst, you may find itbest to move yourneck gently whilestanding under awarm shower. Whenthat's comfortable,you can move on tospecific exercisesthat help peoplebreak free from neckpain.

Studies suggestthat exercises tostrengthen neckmuscles may bemore effective at re-ducing pain thanother types of activ-

ity. A 2003 studypublished in theJournal of the Amer-ican Medical Associ-ation looked atfemale office work-ers with chronicneck pain who fol-lowed different exer-cise programs.Those who did neckstrengthening exer-cises reported lesspain than the

women whostretched and didaerobics. Those whotook part in evenmore intensivestrength training,using elastic bandsto provide resistanceduring exercises, re-ported the least painand disability. Theyalso improved theirstrength and rangeof motion.

In January 2008,Danish researchersreported similar re-

sults: A randomizedtrial of 48 womenconcluded thatwork-related neckpain can be relievedby regularly per-forming exercisesthat strengthen neckmuscles. Generalworkouts, by con-trast, reduced thepain only slightly.

The scientists re-cruited women whohad chronic neckpain and tightness inthe muscles that rundown the back of theneck and fan out to-ward the shouldersfor more than amonth during the

previous year. Theyworked mainly oncomputers at banks,post offices, admin-istrative offices andan industrial facility.

Researchers ran-domly assigned par-ticipants to one ofthree groups. Onegroup receivedstrength training fo-cused on neck andshoulder muscles.

The second groupworked on theiroverall fitness byriding an exercisebike without hold-ing onto the handle-bars. The thirdgroup was coun-seled on workplaceergonomics, diet,health, relaxation,

and stress manage-ment. The two exer-cise groups worked

out for 20 minutesthree times a weekfor 10 weeks.

On average, thewomen in thestrength traininggroup experienced a75 percent decreasein pain. General fit-ness training re-sulted in only ashort-term decreasein pain that was toosmall to be consid-ered clinically im-portant, althoughthe researchers didsuggest that even alittle reduction inpain severity couldencourage people togive exercise a try.Women assigned tohealth counselingexperienced no re-duction in pain.

Your best bet is totalk with a physicaltherapist, physician

or trainer who cantailor an exerciseprogram to meetyour needs. He orshe might recom-mend some simplestretching andstrengthening exer-cises (see illustra-tions) or suggestworking out withhand weights. Atherapist can alsomotivate you to

work hard enoughto see results with-out causing furtherinjury.

If you exercise onyour own, start witha gentle aerobic ac-tivity, such as walk-ing, before targetingyour neck muscles.Perform the exer-cises slowly andcarefully. Never ex-ercise to a point thatcauses pain. And ifyou use weights,avoid doing toomuch too soon. Startwith a few poundsand build up gradu-ally.

With a little bit ofeffort, your neckpain will no longerbe, as you put it, apain in the neck.

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