Hour after hour, keystroke after keystroke, your body is howling. By the end of the day, your back is aching and your neck is tighter than a lane change in rush-hour traffic.
What is really causing all this pain? Is it stress or the mouse at your desk?
There are several environmental and behavioral factors, but in the end what’s causing most of your pain is most likely a shortening of tissue, mostly in the trapezius (neck area) and levator (shoulder blade) muscles. Muscles and connective tissue tend to become less elastic when put to task on prolonged, focused, restrictive movements, such as typing or moving things around a computer screen with your mouse.
Think about a rubber band airplane. You spin the propeller as much as you can. To spin it early on is pretty easy, but the more you tighten the band, the harder that same motion becomes. What would happen if you replaced a normal-sized rubber band with a shorter one? Would you be able to spin the propeller as much?
Take shortened tissues and add stress, say from work or just life, and you crank the propeller that much more – like using a vacuum cleaner belt instead of a rubber band in your airplane.
Specific connective tissue stretching can effectively reestablish tissue space and relieved pain all of these over-worked areas. That is: when you’re not emotionally tense, should you be having tension headaches? NO!
Here are a few of our favorite stretches you can do on your own:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW0lod7gGn8
Other, more powerful stretches you need a trained Rossiter Coach for. We eat headaches for breakfast. A Rossiter coach is trained to look at your body, specifically your posture, to see tension patterns and imbalances. Our know-how and guidance combined with your movement and gumption can reset these shortened tissues.
Stop chewing the Advil and help your body for real!
If the DIY-route is more of a pain in your neck, contact us to see how Rossiter can help!
(photo credit: day n nite)
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