Strength Training for a Pain in the Neck?

Chronic neck pain is often seen in people (more often women) who have jobs involving monotonous work in a fairly fixed position, e.g. work at a computer. Physical therapy is usually recommended, but it’s not been clear what sort of exercises are best. Danish researchers have compared the effects of two types of exercise, and reported their findings in Arthritis Care & Research.

Forty-eight women with chronic neck pain who were employed at 7 workplaces characterized by monotonous jobs were recruited. They were randomly assigned to receive either 10 weeks’ of specific strength training locally for the affected muscle (the trapezius), general fitness training on a leg bicycle with the shoulders relaxed, or a reference intervention with counseling but without specific activity.

The specific training consisted of 3 of 5 different neck and shoulder muscles’ exercises for 20 minutes, 3 times a week. A visual-analog scale – points on a line ranging from nil to excruciating pain – was used to record the pain felt by the subjects.

Specific strength training was associated with a decrease of 35 mm on the 100 mm scale (79%) in the worst pain score. On the other hand, general fitness training was associated with a 5 mm decrease in worst pain score.

After a 10 weeks’ post-treatment phase, there was no change in pain in the two exercise groups, or the ‘no intervention’ group, with the specific strength training continuing to be better than the other two groups.

This study clearly demonstrates that chronic neck pain related to work can be helped with appropriate therapy. It’s relevant that 82% of the women worked at a computer, and 79% reported using a keyboard for more than ¾ of their work day. Employers should take notice!