How do you deal with neck pain during hours of play?

[NeuroAtypical]

My office chair is not a gamer, despite having a backrest, it does not have a headrest, I keep my head looking forward during the game, but after a while of use, the back of my neck starts to hurt and I am forced to stop the game and step away from the PC for a while.

[Black Blade]

I recommend you get a better chair then
And work to get the right posture

Its what I do to keep my self healthy

If need be, maybe try playing some Controllers games so you can lean more back when playing some time at least

keep your self healthy

For me personally I got a good chair, set my desk to a comfortable higher and keep my self leaning right

[ReBoot]

There's a couple ways, the first being a good chair. If I may recommend one, the HP Omen gaming chair is a great piece of furniture. I'm a nerd working in home office, I spend hours sitting in front of my PC, and then hours playing at evenings, sitting in front of my PC. No back/neck pain whatsoever. Of course, office chairs need to be adjusted. It took me quite a while (a couple days, actually) to get mine into a position I'm long-term comfortable at (while also facilitating getting things done).

Then there's the thing with changing your posture & generally active sitting. Shift around a bit. Make sure you don't spend too much time in the same (uncomfortable, if you got neck pain) position. Changing entirely from desk to couch may help as well. A couch'n'gamepad gaming position is a nice change from a (bad) chair.

A means which my company recommends (which I don't care about as I don't have any pains) is exercise. There's special exercise programs devised for screen workers, stuff you can do within few minutes without getting up & away from your desk and it helps if you do it regularly.

[nightnight]

I only get neck pain if it's been an awfully long time since I last worked out and did stretching. I recommend doing neck circles, shoulder circles, and arm circles forwards and backwards. There are lots of other stretches too but these should help with your neck pain

[T9]

Get a good chair (not a Gamer Chair..)
Correct your sitting position, check it frequently
Take breaks
Do sports, stretching

[Aahzmandias]

For your own sake, work out. Stop gaming and start going to the gym, at least two times a week. It will not get better otherwise.


Your problem is NOT the chair.

[nullable]

I cheaped out on chairs for a long long time. Gaming chairs generally suck. I ended up getting https://www.xchair.com/x3build.html and no more back pain, or discomfort. I've been working from home since the pandemic, and I'm in the chair a lot. Good chairs are good.

Granted you don't have to spend that much on a chair. But once you get over to $200-$300 mark there's some pretty good options.

https://www.amazon.com/Vifah-ActiveChair-Ergonomic-Office-Adjustable/dp/B01N3O6RDT might have been a second choice of mine if I was buying online.

Just a local shop had the xchairs so I went with that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yhc6mmdJC4 I'd generally agree with this video too. I think I watched it after I got my xchair, but the overall sentiment holds. "Cheap chairs are cheap and aren't going to wow you, expensive chairs are good, but you can get 95% of the benefit of comfort at a midrange price point. And gaming chairs usually suck."

I had a gaudy racing chair, like the ones they savage in the video, and I can't disagree with a single thing they say about them. It's absolutely true. They suck, for all the reasons mentioned.

[snipemaster.007]

Stop playing take a rest maybe

[doug]

You need to exercise every day.

[Zyber]

I use a compression mat, helps with stretching but this is not for everybody, talk to your doctor first. Keep this in mind. Eye strain can cause neck and head pain as well for some.

A great stretching exercise is to stand straight up, as straight as you can. Then keep your head and body in the exact same spot and drop your shoulders. Stay still, facing forward. You will feel the sides of your neck pull, it may hurt but it helps. I hope I explained that correctly. I am use to just showing people. They may have a video somewhere of what I am talking about.

[J4MESOX4D]

Originally posted by Take on Me:

My office chair is not a gamer, despite having a backrest, it does not have a headrest, I keep my head looking forward during the game, but after a while of use, the back of my neck starts to hurt and I am forced to stop the game and step away from the PC for a while.

You should be taking regular breaks regardless.

[Tito Shivan]

Good chair
Good posture
Regular breaks
Don't stress you.

If I'm having neck/back pain during the day (Something more frequent with age) for me it means it's not a day for gaming but for resting.

[♥ catgirl connoisseur]

Posture and working out for sure. Try to set up regular interals to do a posture check. If you find yourself leaning in, you might want to get your eyes checked.

+1 don't get a gaming chair when you replace yours, they're not actually ergonomic.

if it's bad enough, physiotherapy is amazing

[Hammer Of Evil]

pushups.

you should be doing 200 per day, proper form, chin up. chin lightly brushes the floor. it also incentivizes you to clean the room you're in lol.

-fixes carpal tunnel, tunnel carpals in your forearms when you're a growing boy or girl, if they develop quickly they can inflame, this stretches them and builds muscles.
-wide shoulder boi
-improve grip strength
-improve overall strength, because its also a plank in disguise if done correctly
-thickens all the relevant back muscles starting with the weakest ones.

should do this no matter what. theres a few exercises like this which is the main reason military soldiers are so strong. its easy and requires zero investment but some time and some pain. you'll never have trouble opening that jar of pickles again.

gl

[MoonC A T]

Either raise or lower your monitor or raise or lower your chair. Either one.

[SPG]

Originally posted by nightnight:

I only get neck pain if it's been an awfully long time since I last worked out and did stretching. I recommend doing neck circles, shoulder circles, and arm circles forwards and backwards. There are lots of other stretches too but these should help with your neck pain :jawagrin:

ditto