Neck pain, like headache pain is suddenly just there. If you work at a computer all day you probably don't notice it until the end of the day.

When you work over a computer keyboard for hours on end your neck muscles, and sometimes your back muscles, are not in a proper skeletal position. Because of this, they have to compensate and work differently and usually not the way they are meant to. And that's what causes the pain. One thing you can do for persistent neck pain is stop sticking it out! Really, neck pain can occur if you have bad posture and many of us do.

Bad posture is something we don't give much thought to but it can cause a myriad of body aches and pains. Bad posture is easily remedied and can be self diagnosed in just a few minutes. Get in front of a three way mirror and stand the way you normally would. Are your shoulders slumped forward? Do you lock your knees? Is your back rounded? Is your neck too far forward? If they are, then you need to start helping your body to straighten up properly and that normally starts with standing up straight. You need to know what's wrong before you can correct it and you need to know what good posture looks like.

Good posture is a straight back, stomach in with pelvis aligned with your hips, your neck tucked in and your shoulders not too far forward and not too far back. Good posture is simply keeping your spine straight so it can help support the rest of your body.

Another thing to watch for is your head position. If you don't keep it in a good position it causes your neck to overwork itself. Your neck works hard enough to hold up your head, which can weigh up to 10 pounds and with the slightest variation of neck position, even as little as two inches forward or back, it can add an extra 20 pounds of stress. Your head must be positioned straight up from your neck, not to the side or pushed forward.

There are a few simple exercises that will help with neck pain due to bad posture. First take breaks from tedious computer work. Contrary to popular belief, it's not good to roll your neck around or crack it as some people do, just stretch it gently from side to side. Another trick is to keep your head directly over your shoulders and squeeze your shoulder blades together in the back. Do this a couple times throughout the day and it will help. To correct bad posture it takes just one correction because as a natural course of body movement if you correct one thing all else will fall in line. Easy stuff.