Neck & desk posture
Desk posture is a strength problem. We treat the joint, then train the position.
A neck that aches by three in the afternoon is rarely a neck that is damaged. It is a neck holding a position its mid-back and shoulder blades stopped helping with, for eight hours, four hundred times a year. The joint work buys range and the loading work is what lets you hold the range.
c-02 / in your words
Does your afternoon look like this?
- 01A dull ache at the base of the skull that builds through the workday
- 02Turning to check a blind spot is noticeably shorter on one side
- 03A knot between the shoulder blades that comes back within a week
- 04Stretching helps for about twenty minutes
c-02 / how it is worked
The desk neck protocol
phase 01 / unload
Get the ache down before we train anything
Segmental work through the mid and upper back, instrument-assisted work on the tissue between the shoulder blades, and a change to your actual desk from the photographs you send in. The desk change is the one that stops it coming back on Monday.
phase 02 / rotate
Buy back the range you lost on one side
Rotation is measured in degrees on both sides at the assessment, and it is the number this phase is judged against. Mobility work through the thoracic spine first, because a neck asked to supply range the mid-back should be supplying is the whole mechanism.
phase 03 / hold
Train the position so it stops needing you to think about it
Deep neck flexor and lower trapezius work, ten to fifteen minutes, three or four days a week. Posture held by attention lasts until the next deadline. Posture held by capacity does not need attention.
what we test first
We measure cervical and thoracic rotation in degrees on both sides, test scapular control, and review photographs of your actual desk rather than a demonstration one.
how many visits
Four to six visits for the joint and tissue side. The position itself is a strength quality, so the home block runs ten to fifteen minutes, three or four days a week.
when this is not ours
Neck pain with dizziness, visual changes, arm weakness, or a recent significant impact gets screened before any manual work, and referred out when the picture is not clearly mechanical.