When you consider what we ask our neck and shoulder muscles to do, it’s little wonder how many of us have chronic neck pain. The typical head weighs as much as a bowling ball. We expect our neck to keep our heads upright all day as we turn from this direction to that. So, what to do for neck pain? Two solutions that work seem to be 1) improve your posture and 2) stick a needle in it. I suppose no one is going to argue that better posture is a poor idea. There is something called the Alexander Technique which purports to teach people how better to sit. stand, and walk.
This program looks, frankly, a little new agey. I have a notion that chanting and eating granola figure in somehow. But even if you skip all that, just being mindful of your posture has to help. The other technique showing some promise is acupuncture. I really don’t know what to make of the idea of sticking needles into precise spots on the body to relieve pain. In some ways, it makes the Alexander Technique look like quantum mechanics. But if something has been around this long, there must be something to it. Perhaps it is just our old friend the placebo affect. But, if the net result is your neck stops hurting, I guess who cares why.
