Decompress At Your Desk-Part 1

My Top 5 Tips To Reduce Neck And Back Pain At The Office

By Dr. Jessica Warnecke PT, DPT, OCS

Do you sit or stand at an office desk for most of the day? Do you feel increased tightness or pain throughout your neck and back as your job stress rises or work load increases? Many of my patients complain of these nagging symptoms so I want to share with you my Top Tips for reducing work related pain.

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In today’s world, many of our job requirements include sitting or standing at our desk for 8+ hours a day. Even in my world as a physical therapist, in which I stand, move, and physically work on people the majority of the time, do I still have to sit or stand at my laptop and do all my documentation and email responses. Outside of our actual job, we then spend many additional hours on our smart phones and personal electronic devices with our head down, shoulders forward, and back slumped.
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​This all takes a toll on our body and can lead to neck stiffness, headaches, muscle tightness, shoulder impingement, or the dreaded low back pain. To combat these issues, I want to share with you 5 simple, functional exercises you can do daily that require no equipment and minimal time. These exercises help keep the entire body mobile so that we don’t succumb to the rigors of our office jobs.

1. Cervical Retraction: This exercise pulls the neck backwards into proper postural alignment in order to help alleviate compression of the spinal joints and reduce tightness of the muscles in front of our neck. For neck retraction, you want to pull your head straight back to feel as if the base of your skull is lengthening and the top of your head is going towards the ceiling. Make sure to not look down or up in order to perform a straight movement. Pause for a count of 2, relax and repeat. Do 1 set of 10 repetitions every hour during the work day.
2. Scapular Retraction: A shoulder squeeze motion helps improve your posture, strengthens the muscles in the back, and stretches the muscles in the front. For shoulder squeezes, you want to pretend there is a pencil between your shoulder blades and you are trying to pinch it. Make sure to pull your shoulder blades back and downward to avoid shrugging your shoulders up towards your ears. Pause for a count of 2, relax, and repeat. Do 1 set of 15 repetitions every hour during the work day. 
3. Thoracic Extension: Bending your upper spine backwards helps to counteract the forward pulling forces our body experiences as we slump forward at our desk. Place your hands interlaced at the base of your neck, pull your elbows forward, and gently arch your spine backwards in a comfortable range. Relax and repeat 10-15 times. Do 3-5 times during the work day.
4. Pectoralis Stretch: Stretching your chest muscles will help keep them from getting too tight throughout the work day and leading to issues such as shoulder impingement pain or nerve entrapment syndromes. With the shoulders down, extend the arms and hands behind you.  Squeeze your shoulders together, gently press your sternum forward, and slightly lift your head. You should feel the stretch in the front of the chest/shoulders. Hold 30 seconds. Repeat 3 sets of this 3-5 times throughout the day.
5. Hip Rotator Stretch: Figure four stretching helps loosen up the glute and piriformis muscles that move our hips and attach to support the low back. Sitting all day will tighten this area and can lead to low back pain and stiffness. While sitting, cross the left ankle over the right knee and let the left knee fall towards the ground (as if making a figure 4). If no major stretch is felt, you can use your hand to gently push the knee closer towards the ground. Once a stretch is felt, hold 30 seconds. Then switch sides and repeat 3 times. Perform this stretch 1-2 times each day.

These 5 functional exercises don’t require a large time commitment and can be done anywhere throughout the day. Start implementing them into your work day routine in order to improve your office fitness level and avoid future pain, injury, or disability! Stay tuned for part 2 to learn important tips to follow with your desk space set up.