Is it easy to injure your cervical spine by "falling asleep while sitting" during commuting? Medical recommendation of "1 good thing" for improvement: drive frequently and bring it with you at all times
If you often accidentally “doze off” while commuting to work or on the sofa at home, you are actually silently causing excessive pressure on your cervical spine? Dr. Huang Xuan, an expert in critical care medicine, said in the community that previous studies have pointed out that dozing while sitting may cause great harm to the cervical spine. Especially during long-distance travel or long hours of office work, it is more likely to damage the cervical spine and accelerate its degeneration. .
Is it easy to injure your neck if you fall asleep sitting up? Study warns: Risk of cervical spine misalignment
Dr. Huang Xuan explained that according to the research in “PLOS ONE”, keeping your head down or napping in an incorrect posture for a long time may indeed increase the burden on the cervical spine, lead to muscle fatigue, cervical spine discomfort, and even accelerate cervical spine degeneration, especially when sitting. Lower, the lack of support for the neck is more likely to cause cervical spine injury.
Another study published in “JMNI” explored the damage to the neck in different postures, such as standing, habitual sitting, clenching the jaw while habitually sitting, and leaning the head forward while habitually sitting. The results showed that the wrong postures were the least while standing, followed by the habitual sitting posture, then the head tilting forward under the habitual sitting posture, and finally the jaw clenching under the habitual sitting posture. It can be seen that incorrect posture while sitting is the most harmful to the neck.
“JMNI” research points out that when individuals sit and take a nap, their heads tend to tilt or hang unnaturally, causing the neck muscles to be overstretched and the other side of the neck to be compressed. In this situation, “acute cervical spondylosis” is likely to occur. “Periarthritis”, also commonly known as “stiff neck”. It is worth mentioning that if an individual falls asleep in a vehicle and encounters bumps or sudden stops, the shaking of the head may cause cervical spine injury or even risk of dislocation.
How to avoid “stiff neck” caused by falling asleep while sitting? 1 good thing recommended by doctors: You should carry it with you when commuting for long distances
If an individual often falls asleep while sitting, how can one avoid cervical spine injury? Dr. Huang Xuan said that it is not recommended to fall asleep in a sitting position unless necessary. However, if you want to sit and take a break during a long commute or work, you can refer to the following 3 principles to protect your cervical spine:
Make good use of neck pillows. When traveling long distances, you can prepare a neck pillow, which can effectively stabilize the neck and reduce head shaking, thus protecting the cervical spine from injury.
Choose a suitable sitting position. Try to maintain a correct sitting posture and avoid tilting or lowering your head for a long time. In addition, intermittently adjusting your sitting posture during long periods of sitting can help reduce fatigue and stress on your neck muscles.
Change postures regularly. If possible, try standing up and stretching your lower back and neck. This not only relaxes the muscles but also promotes blood circulation.
A must-see for office workers to relax their shoulders and neck! Physiotherapist reveals 3 steps to prevent stiff neck
If you want to avoid “stiff neck” in your neck, what actions can you take to relax your shoulders and neck? Ling Yusheng, a physical therapist at “Two Points of Health and Vitality”, once said in an exclusive interview that in order to prevent stiff neck, you should move your shoulders and neck every 30 minutes or so, and you can also practice training exercises to relax your neck muscles:
Step 1: Keep your neck in a neutral position, keep the upper edge of the back of your head in line with your tailbone, and extend your cervical spine upward.
Step 2: In the neutral position, look to the left and right with your neck.
Step 3: Alternately bring your ears closer to your shoulders.
This action helps stretch your neck muscles while lightly training your core muscles. Dr. Huang Xuan also recommends that if you have persistent soreness in your neck after waking up from a nap, you can first use ice compresses to reduce the inflammatory response, and then use hot compresses to relax the muscle tissue. In addition, moderate stretching and massage of the neck can also help relieve pain. . If severe pain occurs in the neck and does not heal for a long time, the symptoms should be clarified by a doctor as soon as possible.
Source:
“When you doze off, your cervical spine is injured, but you don’t know it” - Dr. Huang Xuan
Effect of different head-neck-jaw postures on cervicocephalic kinesthetic sense
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