Neck arthritis most commonly known as Osteoarthritis or Degenerative Joint Disease can be a troubling and painful problem for individuals who suffer from it. Thankfully, advances in neck arthritis treatment have made the issue much easier to manage, but it doesn’t change the fact that neck arthritis can still be difficult to manage and highly disruptive to one’s normal life. Fortunately, there is good news: By being mindful of your daily habits, you can reduce the pain caused by neck arthritis and limit the need for neck arthritis treatment.
Watch How You Sit
Neck arthritis treatment can be much easier – if necessary at all – if you engage in some basic changes to your habits and lifestyle. One of the most important of these is watching how you sit.
There are many minor changes that can reduce the pain caused by neck arthritis. For example:
- Make sure you are sitting with the best posture possible. Don’t slouch or lean forward in your desk chair. Instead, keep your feet on the floor and your back against the chair.
- Adjust the keyboard and monitor height for optimal placement. The screen should be raised so that your eyes are in the top third of the screen and your keyboard and mouse should be close to your body not reaching forward and at a level below your elbow.
- Limit your phone use! “Text neck” is a real issue caused by altering the natural way that we carry our necks in order to stare at our phone screen. For when you use your phone, raise it to eye level.
As you can see from these tips, it’s important to remember that your neck arthritis can be impacted by postural changes that are seemingly unrelated to your neck. Your entire body – and especially your spine – is interconnected.
Sleeping Habits
Sleeping habits can have a lot to do with neck pain and with the neck pain that comes from arthritis. If it is at all possible, you should try to sleep on your back – and not your side or your stomach. This is because sleeping on your stomach or side can cause your neck to bend and strain in an unnatural way. Sleeping on your back is the easiest way to sleep when it comes to keeping your neck in neutral alignment. Make sure your pillow is firm, and consider getting a specialized pillow to sleep in like this Tempur-Pedic pillow.Neck arthritis can be painful and debilitating. Thankfully, with some relatively minor changes to your daily habits, you can minimize the pain that it causes.
Contact our clinic to help with your neck pain!
