- Hi folks I'm Bob Schrupp Physical Therapist.
- Brad Heineck Physical Therapist.
- Okay, we're the most famous Physical Therapists on--
- Our opinion of course Bob.
- That was kind of quick--
- We'll they're in you know, I kind of stumbled on it.
- Today, we're going to talk five hidden reasons
for you neck pain.
These are things that aren't obvious to a lot of people.
But, they can, as I found out personally,
it was causing my neck pain, just one of these was.
So very important to cover.
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All right, what are the five hidden reasons
for your neck pain?
One of the ones that are most common that I see,
'cause everybody's on a computer screen nowadays.
- Yes.
- Whether it's a laptop, or a desk top.
And the biggest thing I see, almost universally,
is the screen is too low.
Show 'em what happens when the screen is too low Brad.
- Right, so if you're working here,
and this screen is too low.
And, to see the screen, you gotta do this.
So my neck is having what we call "Head Forward Posture"
which really takes the cervical spine and puts
it into a posture that is stressful throughout the disk,
the muscles as well, there's even the facet joints,
there's a number of tissues that can get irritated.
- Yeah, I think the rule of thumb was for every inch forward
there was ten pounds of more stress on the neck.
- Right, 'cause you're going forward and you got
the weight of your head pulling down like a lever.
- Makes a lot of sense physics-wise.
So, how high should the screen be Brad?
- Well higher than this Bob!
If you can get in good posture, you got your chair
set up right, if you go straight level across from your eyes
you should have that to the top of the screen,
or even a little higher than that.
I learned it was right to the top of the screen,
I think that you have seen a little bit, about 3/4s.
- Yeah, exactly.
- You're in the ball park there.
- I think when you put the screen up,
and you find your neck is comfortable and in a good posture
and you're able to see the screen,
that's the position.
- I just naturally wanna be up taller,
just so I can see the screen.
- So you gonna use your keyboard way up there?
- Yeah, this is not gonna be good for my wrists,
my elbows, my shoulders.
So you'll need to bring the keyboard down here.
On your lap is perfectly acceptable,
and actually recommended by some people.
So, down there, or if you've got a lap tray that
you can adjust.
- Or, even those lap tables almost,
that you can put on your lap.
- And a lot of people won't have an
adjustable table like this but you can just use books.
Or, they make plastic screen elevators
that are adjustable to get it up.
Whatever it takes to get that screen--
- That's what I used for yours,
was a bunch of books I didn't read.
But the same would be true with a laptop.
You'd actually have the same problem with this,
this one is like 50 years old I think, this laptop.
- Well, you can't go wrong with a 50-year-old laptop,
at least for a demonstration.
- So this is what Brad and I see all the time,
younger people, they sit on their bed and they'll--
- Yes, exactly, the old bed studying or whatever you call--
- It is amazing how many young students we are seeing now
that are already having neck problems because of this.
- Well, they call it "Tech Neck".
- Yep, they call it "Tech Neck".
- So, this again, you want to get this up.
Of course, the keyboard is stuck to the screen,
or some separate, we've got one at home that
separates nicely, but if you don't,
then you should invest in a wireless keyboard.
- Gotcha.
- And then, get this up, and then hook up the keyboard
wirelessly, so that you can adjust it properly.
- Very important, this is not a minor thing.
You spend a lot of time,
You wanna leave that open-- - Oh sure.
- You spend a lot of time
on your computer and it's a problem.
So this is a problem that I was having,
I had my screen up, everything was good,
but I had bifocals, and there is no way
you can have your neck in good position,
when you're reading your computer with bifocals.
- [Brad] Even if you got the screen up at the right level.
- Yeah, I'm going like this.
I'm going like this the whole time,
trying to find that little sight zone.
- [Brad] The sweet spot huh?
- So finally, I'm like "what am I doing?",
so I buy my glasses from Zenni Optical,
you can buy 'em for $50-60,
and I got a pair of reading glasses.
These are set for about 20 inches away from the screen,
and I got a little bigger pair so that
I had plenty of eye space, to read.
- You look good with those Bob, you should go out--
(Bob laughs)
- Yeah, what does that mean?
- Put a comment down there, see if you like it.
- Good or bad?
- Anyway, so they're designed for 20 inches?
- 20 inches away, oh Brad,
I was getting neck pain, even a little bit of the headaches.
- Do they make bifocal ones like that?
- Well yeah, they can.
- Okay.
- But, if it was a bifocal I'd still be having
to try to find that sight zone, even though it's bigger.
- No, but I mean, if I just wear Cheaters,
so can I go to Zenni and get Cheaters
that'll give that same thing?
- Yep, you can get everything there.
And, they're inexpensive, that's why
I thought I could take a gamble a see it they work.
This has just been fantastic,
I would highly recommend, if you wear bifocals,
to get some, just for the computer.
I just keep them sitting on my table there,
and I just switch out when I go there.
Next thing, Brad, lot of people,
can we clear the deck here?
- Oh yeah.
- So lot of people, when they make
the mistake of sleeping with bad posture.
Now, you wanna have the neck, the ears are directly
over the shoulders, you wanna be in good posture
all night long when you're sleeping.
You don't wanna be like this,
you don't wanna be like this,
and you don't wanna be like this.
So, a lot of people make the mistake,
they got too many pillows when they're laying on their back.
Look at me, I'm already flexed forward.
They might even do this while they're watching TV.
That's a big mistake too.
Some people even have three pillows, making it much worse.
So, when you're on your back,
you really wanna have one pillow, or one thin pillow,
and that way when you lay down,
now my ears are lined up more with my shoulder,
I'm in good posture.
If you're tight, it may take a while
for you to stretch down into this,
you may have to do some exercise to get there.
But, if not, if you comfortably get down there,
this is where you need to be.
Now, when you're laying on your side,
you have little more of a gap, in through here.
- [Brad] Yeah, 'cause your shoulders are--
- Yeah, a little wider.
- Particularly if you're one of those
broad shoulder persons.
- Yeah, which I'm not.
But, even with me, I still need probably two pillows,
and I do, I use two pillows.
Or, you can double up a pillow.
- [Brad] Yeah, you can just fold it up.
- What you find a lot of people doin sometimes,
is that they put their hand there,
which, is all right but it would actually
be better to have two pillows.
You can see how this fills in the gap,
my heads not going this way, it's not going this way,
it's right in the center.
Not a minor thing again, 'cause you sleep a long time.
- I just had a patient yesterday I was telling you about,
he sleeps with two pillows, and I suggested
"go to one pillow", and a few other things,
I'm not sure he's going to follow the instructions.
- He was a strange one.
- That happens.
- Okay, next one, driving posture.
Very common, a lot of us drive, most of us drive.
If you're in bad posture,
one mistake that I see some people,
they have their seat too far back like this.
- Oh yeah.
- And what's your neck gonna do then?
It's gonna go like this.
So now you're driving, I got my steering wheel Brad.
- Yeah, this is a classic (laughs),
you must have a nice car Bob.
Plate for a steering wheel.
- Now the other thing a lot of times
people put their arms way up here,
it puts kind of a stress on the neck.
- Back in the 70s when I took drivers ed,
they suggested the 10 and two--
- Yeah, 10 and two, so we say more the four, eight.
- Looking at the clock numbers.
- Right, and that'd be more comfortable.
- So get to the stress off the shoulders--
- So you wanna have the seat fairly upright,
so you're in good posture,
this one doesn't go that far over.
And, this is my little trick which people laugh at,
since my daughters and my son used to laugh at,
now I find out they're doing it quite often,
I take a sock, just a sock,
and I put it right below my neck,
right around where the neck starts and the mid-back starts.
- C7 T1--
- I didn't want to use that
because I figured they wouldn't know that--
- Where that bump is.
- Yeah, where that bump it.
- You'll know it because it'll feel good.
- And it gives me a little counter-pressure there,
and it straightens out my neck a little more.
- I'm thinking this is going to be a big fad coming up,
you know, over the next few years.
- If you see somebody driving next to you,
and they have a sock in there,
give them the thumbs up, because that's a Bob Schrupp--
- Then point at your sock--
- Yeah, then point at your sock, and go like that.
Seriously though, I used to get neck pain in the car
all the time, because I'm tall,
and this is what took it away.
I know you've driven with me many times and you've seen me--
- Yeah I saw you rolled up a glove once--
- I used a pop can one time,
'cause I didn't have anything soft.
All right, the final thing is...
What is it Brad?
- Oh, the old cell phone.
- Yeah, so, a lot of people are down like this,
looking at their cell phones. Very common.
I know that you may have seen this many times.
You go ahead, just keep it up like this.
Use the Tyrannosaurus-Rex arms, put it up like this and,
you keep it right at a level that'll work.
- Oh I got a message from someone, I'll look at it later.
- All right, remember, Brad and I can fix
just about anything.
- Except for--
- A broken heart.
- But, we're gonna work on that some more.
- Yep, thanks for watching.