"Understanding the Relationship Between Eye Movement and Neck Alignment"

Where the eyes go - the neck follows. Try it , look left your neck will turn , look up your neck bends, your head falls back. Tipping your head back is a great way to counteract all the looking down we do.

One way to counteract text-neck and minimize neck soreness is to provide your eyes with a reason to look up.

Try setting your worktable or sewing machine up in front of a wall mounted television and you will automatically lift your head every few minutes.

While using a wall-mounted television to prompt lifting your head periodically might seem like a creative solution, there are several considerations to keep in mind:

1. Effectiveness: While it may initially encourage you to lift your head, there's no guarantee that it will consistently remind you to maintain good posture over time. Moreover, repeatedly tilting your head up to watch the television could strain your neck in the long run.

2. Distraction: Some might argue that having a television in your crafting area might distract you from your work, but it can also provide a bit of company.

3. Space and Setup: Not everyone may have the space or resources to set up a wall-mounted television in their sewing area. Additionally, the logistics of positioning the television in a way that's both visible and not obstructive to your sewing could be challenging.

According to the Spine Hospital of Nebraska neck pain is the third most common type of chronic pain, with over 25% of us affected.

One of the most common causes of neck pain is simply looking down too often. The main culprits are cell phones, laptops and for many of us sewing machines, knitting and other handiwork. Neck pain caused by looking down is often referred to as ‘text neck’ or as my massage therapist calls it “quilters neck”. Even though the action of looking down is small, the amount of pressure placed on your neck increases with the frequency of the action. Meaning, looking down briefly shouldn’t cause you pain, but looking at a laptop eight hours a day, five days a week will.

The pressure from looking down will begin to build in your neck, leading to damage such as neck pain, soreness, upper back muscle spasms, and even premature degeneration which can lead to arthritis.

There are certain measures you can take to prevent developing a pain in the neck.

Prevent Neck Pain

1. If you believe cell phone usage may be to blame for your pain, try holding your phone higher. Having your phone at eye level eliminates the need to look down at all.

2. If working from a laptop looks like a contributing factor, adjust your workspace. You can either place your laptop at eye level and use a separate keyboard, or you can hook your laptop up to a monitor that is at eye level.

3, If you cannot avoid looking down for long periods of time, take frequent breaks to stretch. To relieve neck pain, gently tilt your head from right to left, holding for about 20 seconds on each side.Heat therapy may be effective in relieving your pain.

4. Try either a heating pad or ice pack on the affected area for 10-20 minutes, several times throughout the day.

5. Place something on the wall in front of your sewing machine that forced you to look up. A monitor, television screen or a shelf to hold your tablet.

The measures above may help you in relieving neck pain. If the pain persists, see your massage therapist and/or physician. Chronic pain is a pain in the neck that no one should have to be content living with.

https://nebraskaspinehospital.com/neck-pain-looking/

What's in your sewing space to keep your eyes skyward?