neck pain

Spinal pain treatment – move more often

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Back and neck pain treatment

NU Moves Physio leads the way in evidence based treatment. We are constantly looking to the latest evidence to help our clients move better and feel well. Being located at The University of Newcastle means a lot of our clients are academics, students and staff. A few areas we commonly treat are back and neck pain, which many people attribute to postural or sitting loads at work or while studying.

The scientific understanding of this problem has definitely evolved over the last few decades and has now changed significantly from the old adage of ‘sit up straight and don’t slouch’ to the ‘move more often’ advice. Move more means varying your postures and positions rather than having to sit up straight all the time. It might be that you need slouch a little if you have been upright for a while or sit back in your chair and use your backrest to sit up tall if you have been slouching. Stand desks are great to get you out of your chair but not for standing all day. A mixture of sitting and standing changes your posture which is best.

This is notably advice based on research for lower back pain. A common mistake leading to neck pain is reaching too far whilst at a computer.  Neck pain is often also related to the stress and tension that we carry in our shoulders. Again the best advice is often to get up and move more – go for a walk or do some exercise for 30 mins aiming for a daily basis. If you are too busy to walk that is often the problem that needs to be managed.

Professor Peter O’Sullivan leads the way in back pain research and advises ‘your best posture is your next posture’. Simple spinal pain treatment – move more often!

If you have neck pain or back pain at work or study, get moving and if pain holds you back then contact us on 0249216879 or admin@numovesphysiotherapy.com.au

Feel better through movement

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Manual physio newcastle

The Uni Physio Clinic on Callaghan campus is located within The Forum Sports Centre. NU Moves has been helping staff and students for more than a decade now, specialising in manual therapy, exercise prescription, and rehabilitation. Our goal is to help you feel better in the short term and increase movement / exercise in the long term.

Are you currently:

  • Sitting most of the day?
  • Not exercising daily?
  • Stressed (workload, interactional, emotional)?
  • Have any neck / shoulder or back / hip pain?

If you answer yes to 3 or 4 of these questions then it’s time to reflect and make some changes to your daily habits now.

If you answer yes to the first 2 questions then consider how you can start to fit a walk or another exercise you enjoy into your day. The goal for long term health and feeling better now is 30 mins of activity per day. It can also help prevent muscular pain associated with excess sitting.

If you have neck & shoulder or back / hip pain, that is when we can help you the most. Physiotherapy has a range of treatment options from massage, spinal manual therapy or dry needling to reduce pain. There should always be advice on activity / exercise or we can design a full exercise program suited to your goals. Assessment of your computer ergonomic setup is essential and advice on simple changes often helps. Occasionally we utilise orthotic prescription but only if it helps you get active with less pain.

To book an appointment with NU Moves call 4921 6879 or email admin@numovesphysiotherapy.com.au

Have you got persistent neck pain

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Neck discomfort

The scalene muscles could be the culprit. There are 3 scalene muscles (anterior, middle and posterior) on each side of the neck. They primarily control the side tilting motion of the head but given they also attach to the first and second ribs, can assist with upper chest inspiration or shallow breathing.

At NU Moves Physio we find these muscles become overactive and painful with excess computer / screen use. If you then add stress the posterior scalene muscle in particular tightens further which has a flow on effect in how we move the neck and further increases pain. Sometimes the reported cause is sleeping awkwardly but often this is the trigger and the cause relates back to the extra muscle tension that you take to bed.

How to control it:
1. Deep tissue massage and myofascial releases combined with thoracic spine manual therapy works immediately in reducing tension and associated pain.
2. Try to diaphragm breathe – tummy breathe. Shallow breathing into the top of the chest uses the scalenes even more. Get more oxygen deeper into your lungs and give the scalenes a break.
3. Minimise the chin poked posture at the computer (too much laptop time)
4. Lastly the most common management strategy, getting active and away from the desk. Be careful if you are really tight and start with a low intensity cardio session again with a lower deeper breathing focus (e.g. go for a brisk walk). Upper body gym sessions or high intensity runs can sometimes increase the tension and discomfort when you are really tight.

If you need help with neck pain during busy times call us on 49216879. We will reduce pain and tension and help you get active.