Whether we are working from the office or at home, some steps can be taken to minimise our risk of developing neck pain and headaches during our working day.
Most of us have suffered from either neck pain, a headache or both at some stage in our lives and will know that it can disrupt our productivity, concentration and comfort.
Begin by examining your desk setup. Your monitor should be directly in front of you, approximately an arm's length away. The top of your screen should be at eye level. If the screen is too low, you will angle your head downwards and increase the strain on your neck, so raise or lower your chair or screen accordingly.
You should avoid having your head protracting forward, make sure it is sitting between the shoulders. As the head is the heaviest part of the body, even a slight forward head position can add a considerable strain to the muscles at the back of the neck. The forward head position commonly occurs with mobile phone use. Therefore try to reply to emails and messages on your desktop computer instead of your smaller devices which tend to pull us into poor positions for more extended periods.