Research in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that repetitive strain injury caused by office work can be reduced using certain strength training exercises. Five specific strength exercises target the neck and shoulder muscles involved in causing chronic neck pain. These are:
The Dumbbell shrug.
Stand upright and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Relax your arms at your sides with your palms facing you. Engage your abdominal muscles to brace your torso. Exhale and shrug your shoulders toward your ears. Pause for a count and then slowly lower your shoulders back to the start position. Your arms act as hooks to hold the dumbbells; do not bend your elbows or wrists. The only movement occurs at your shoulders.
The One arm row.
Stand to the right of your weight bench, holding a dumbbell in your right hand with your palm facing in. Place your left knee and your left hand on top of the bench for support. Let your right arm hang down and a bit forward. Pull your abdominals in and bend forward from the hips so that your back is naturally arched and roughly parallel to the floor, and your right knee is slightly bent. Tilt your chin toward your chest so that your neck is in line with the rest of your spine. Pull your right arm up until your elbow is pointing to the ceiling, your upper arm is parallel to the floor, and your hand comes to the outside of the ribcage. Lower the weight slowly back down.
The Upright row.
Stand with legs at a comfortable distance apart — about shoulder width is about right. Grasp a barbell or dumbbells, hanging in front of you at arms length, palms facing the body. Standing up straight, adjust your grip so that your hands are about in line with the thighs. That is, not too close together. Brace the abdominals, keep the back straight and lift the weights straight up then down again in a controlled manner. The arms should go no higher than parallel with the shoulders. Slightly less is OK. Breathe in to start. Breathe out on effort. Try to keep the wrists from excessive movement down or to the side. Don’t squat down and up after the initial pose. No movement of the legs occurs. Do not lift heavy with this exercise unless you are experienced and trust your shoulder joints.
The Reverse fly. Assume start position as shown by sitting on ball; lean your chest over your legs. Weights should start comfortably at the sides of your calves, palms facing back. Bring weights out to sides up to shoulder height and squeeze shoulder blades together. Return to start position
The Lateral raise / shoulder abduction. Relax your arm at your side and hold a weight in your hand with your palm facing your body. Stabilize your torso by bracing your abdominal muscles; pull your belly button in toward your spine. Maintain this posture throughout the exercise. Exhale and lift the weight out to the side until your arm is about parallel to the floor. Pause for a count, then slowly lower the weight back to your side.
Therapeutic modalities such as yoga, acupuncture, meditation, hot and cold packs, and even holding hands can also result in astonishing pain relief without any drugs. Therapeutic massage has been found to offer clinically significant improvement in function and symptoms for those with neck pain. Because there are so many proven techniques to reduce neck and back pain without using drugs, I am now certified to teach a class entitled THE TOP TEN PAIN RELEASERS which gives participants self-help techniques that work without drugs.
Overall, the important point to remember is that there are many other options for treating chronic pain than drug therapy. Never forget that you have choices!
