The overwhelming majority of the workforce leads incredibly sedentary lifestyles and are stuck in less than ideal chairs 90% of the workday, only to flop themselves down into even less comfortable and less ergonomic chairs and couches when they get home at night.

This is leading to a real problem when it comes to posture, spinal health, and your neck – and it also explains why so many people are contending with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome today, more so than ever in the past.

If you have a stiff neck most of the time and if you aren’t able to get rid of this stiff neck without having a professional masseuse work you over the you’re going to want to pay very close attention to all of the inside information below.

The odds are pretty good that you are overtaxing the muscles in your neck, putting undue stress and pressure on your cervical spine, and generally destroying durability to get comfortable without even realizing it.

Here’s how to combat pain effectively!

Stretch every morning and every night

A lot of people are unaware of just how much fluid ends up going in their spine and their neck every single night as they are lying prone, at least until they get up in the morning and realize that their muscles and their neck are anything but loose and refreshed.

Because of the spongy material that your spinal discs are made out of – and because of how many spinal discs are located in the cervical region of the spine (up in your neck) – you’re going to be dealing with a lot of fluid retention that you have to stretch out of your neck or you’ll be stiff all day long.

It’s also a good idea to stretch before you go to bed so that you push that fluid out of the areas that it will try to flood throughout the night, limiting the amount of fluid that actually makes it to your neck.

Hot and cold showers work wonders as well

Though probably not as beneficial as a traditional massage (or even rolling your neck with a foam roller), hot and cold showers – showers that start off very warm and finish cold or vice versa – have been proven to be incredibly effective at relaxing neck muscles and helping you unwind more than you would have been able to with just a hot shower or a cold shower.

Give it a shot for a week or so and see how much your neck loosens up.