How To Prevent Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Headaches - Even When Sitting at a Desk All Day!

Is Your Posture Wrecking Your Neck and Back - and even causing Headaches? What should you do?

The Hidden Cost of Sitting: Why This Matters More Than Ever

We work hard - And we play hard!

But what if working long hours at your desk is actually the reason your neck or back pain is preventing you from playing hard!

That’s right, what if long hours beating deadlines, crunching numbers, Zoom meetings, and decoding spreadsheets has you forgetting about the hidden neck pain, back pain, and headache instigator - poor sitting posture. 

But It’s Not Just Work — Modern Life Keeps Us Sitting

It's ok to want to relax after work and binge watch your favorite Netflix show. And maybe even doom scroll on your phone for hours before you realize your neck is starting to become irritated. 

Not a big TV watcher? Well, what about the impromptu road trip that will inevitably lead to hours sitting in the car. Or maybe it’s hours sitting in an uncomfortable lawn chair or the dreaded metal bleachers while you are at a kids’ sporting event. 

Neck pain, mid-back stiffness, lower back pain, and headaches aren’t just a desk or office problem. It is an everyday, posture-habit problem.

How Prolonged Sitting Impacts the Body

Our bodies are made to move, and move often. 

Sometimes I compare this to a car engine needing motor oil for lubrication to run smoothly. Our body is the same - except our joints need lubrication for pain free movement. And the way we lubricate our joints is with consistent pain free movement to prevent feeling stiff or irritating ours joints.

Compounding on sitting in the same position for hours on end, is when you are in a poor posture placing unnecessary and uneven stresses through the neck, mid back, and lower back.

It is worth noting that each of these regions of the body warrant their own blog due to the intricacies and nuances that occur at each level, but for the purpose of this blog we will merely skim the surface below without diving too deep into research or anatomical considerations.

The Neck: Where Posture Meets Pain

Many will argue that the neck takes the brunt of poor posture, and that is hard to argue against.

As previously mentioned, we live in a society that promotes forward head and rounded shoulder positions - with both postures leading directly to neck pain and/or headaches. 

Specifically, a forward head posture (think focusing on the computer screen or while reading a book) can stress the upper neck (the joints where the neck meets the head). This prolonged posture directly leads to the suboccipital muscles becoming weak, headaches, jaw pain (TMJ Dysfunction), and even dizziness. The culprit here is the OA joint, C1/2 joint, and lastly, the cervicotrigeminal nucleus misfiring due to the aforementioned joint stress - but that may be a little too deep for this blog.

Traveling a little lower, we reach the “bump” at the base of the neck. This junction where the neck (cervical spine) meets the mid back (thoracic spine) is called the Cervico-Thoracic Junction, or CTJ, and is a hot spot for joint stiffness and even pain shooting down the arms and even into the hands.

And of course, you may be thinking about the neck/shoulder blade muscle tension, knots, and trigger points that arise following a long day sitting at the office or traveling. Research studies revealed these trigger points are directly traced back to neck joint dysfunction, further building a case to improve sitting posture. 

This can be a confusing problem because, despite feeling the muscles feeling tight, it is deeper than a muscle problem - and thus massage will only provide temporary relief until the joints and functional weaknesses are addressed.

The Mid Back: The Overlooked Link in Shoulder and Neck Pain

Rounded shoulder posture is notorious for causing mid back/thoracic tightness. This tightness, over time, can lead to joint stiffness at the thoracic spine and muscle tightness/imbalances at the chest/shoulder. 

If your pec muscles (a muscle group on your chest wall) begin to tighten, then rounded shoulder posture can become your norm during standing daily activities and functional overhead lifting. And repetitive lifting overhead with rounded shoulder posture can lead to shoulder injuries such as impingement or even rotator cuff strains/tears.

The Low Back: Why Prolonged Sitting Leads to Stiffness and Weakness

Lastly, the lower back can surely take a beating on a coffee shop barstool or an office chair. 

I compare the discs of the lower back to jelly donuts. If you squeeze the front of a jelly donut, you will move the jelly to the back of the donut, placing pressure on the inner wall of dough. If you continue to squeeze the jelly donut harder and harder, then the jelly will start to bulge the dough, and eventually, burst through the donut. (Now I want a donut…)

In the lower back, when you sit, then you are constantly placing pressure on the front of your disc, while displacing the “jelly” to the back of the disc. And if you already have a disc dysfunction or disc injury, this may explain why sitting or overstretching forward (touching your toes) is not a comfortable position for your back pain.

One other resulting issue worth mentioning, is prolonged sitting can directly lead to glute, core, and multifidus muscle weakness - leading to muscular imbalance and eventual lower back pain and injury..

Why Stretching Alone Doesn’t Fix It

As alluded to a few times above, if the problem isn’t a muscular problem, then a muscular stretch will not fix the issue. 

This is ever obvious when a patient says they have been stretching a particular muscle for years and they are “still tight.” But the real root cause (what feels like tightness) is actually faulty biomechanics, joint stiffness, or muscular weakness and requires more than a muscle stretch or massage.

The Compounding Effect: Why Pain Shows Up Later

Death by a thousand papercuts is a bit dramatic, but seems to align with my next thought. 

The thought is that no singular event caused your neck pain, headaches, or back pain. But rather, it is a compounding effect of months or years of micro-traumas and micro-injuries sustained due to postural imbalances and joint stresses.

This is why you may not be able to pinpoint a specific time your pain began, and by the time you are in pain, it is well past the time to begin to address the underlying issues.

This brings up the interesting tangent conversation of Proactive Physical Therapy: 

If you are simply waiting to be in pain to address pain, then you are always fighting an uphill battle. Simply put, if you are a busy professional, spending hours at a computer/driving/traveling, then proactively addressing risk factors with a biomechanical screen/assessment may save you a lot of headache and backache in the future — but I digress.

The Two-Minute “Coffee Break Reset” for Your Desk

My favorite coffee shop or work space posture reset routine consists of the following:

Disclaimer: Assuming no medical reasons exist to not participate in an exercise program such as recent surgical precautions/MD Instruction, sudden changes to bowel/bladder accompanying back pain, or loss of sensation in the genital region. The below tips/tricks are not medical advice and a Physical Therapy/MD Evaluation should occur prior to initiating any new exercise program. 

First things first - set an external timer at your desk to remind you to get up and move.

We all get caught up in the work tasks at hand, and sometimes we simply need a physical reminder to get up, stretch, and move.

As far as specific examples of exercises, below I’ve listed some of my coffee shop/office favorites:

• Seated Cat/Cow

• Seated Scapular (Shoulder Blade) Squeezes

• Seated Piriformis Stretch

• Standing Back Bends

• Standing Open Books

5 Coffee Break Posture Fixes

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Addressing Your Posture

First, don’t focus on “fixing” your posture - Start with becoming “aware” of your posture. 

Second, avoid overcorrecting your posture by suddenly wearing posture garments, sitting on a stability ball all day, or standing in a military posture all day.

Instead, focus on small, attainable habit changes to improve posture and sitting tolerance.

Take the Next Step Toward Lasting Relief

If you’ve been dealing with neck pain, headaches, or stiffness that always seems to flare after a long day at your desk, in the car, or at your favorite coffee spot — it’s time to look deeper than just the symptoms.

The good news, Acadiana, is that lasting relief is possible. Right here in Lafayette, Louisiana, at Flow Physical Therapy and Wellness, our fellowship-trained, Osteopractic approach helps you uncover the why behind your pain — so you can move, work, and live without limitations again.

Click the button below to get started with a free phone consultation about how Osteopractic Physical Therapy can address your symptoms. 

Click Here to Get Started

Dr. Patrick Thompson, PT, DPT, OCS, Dip. Osteopractic, FAAOMPT

Owner of Flow Physical Therapy and Wellness

337-366-1703