Research has shown that there is a correlation between spending hours looking at a computer and/or reading (called near work) and increased tension in our head and neck muscles. In other words, there is a functional connection of our overworked ciliary muscles (which control the shape of the lens in our eyes) and tension in our trapezius muscle (a muscle in our upper back and neck). As we spend a lot of time reading or working on a computer, our ciliary muscles in our eyes tire, but our brain wants to make sure your eyes stay stable on what you are seeing (called gaze stabilization) so the trapezius usually gets recruited and over-activated to help stabilize the head and neck muscles as an attempt to help you continue to look at what you are reading. This eventually can lead to tension in the muscles of your neck and shoulders, and even cause headaches.
You can counter some of this tension by trying the following:
- First, test your neck range of motion: perform some light neck muscle stretches, such as looking left to right and side-to-side head tilts.
- Now, looking through reading glasses (plus lenses), look at something far away. Be sure to relax and take deep breaths while doing this. Do this for about 20-30 seconds.
- Test your neck range of motion again with the same neck muscle stretches performed in step 1.
If you've been working on a computer or reading for several hours, you may need to do this longer than 30 seconds. The goal is to counteract all the tension built up in your neck and shoulders, and possibly even reduce or get rid of a tension headache.
This is a quick exercise to help with tension in the neck and shoulders. If you have more questions or need other options to reduce muscle tension, please contact me. Lastly, if you have astigmatism or other eye issues, you may need to ask your eye care professional if this is a good exercise for you.
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