Published November 03, 2026
If you sit at a desk for work, are often scrolling on your phone or dealing with stress, chances are you’ve experienced neck and shoulder pain.
“The data shows over 90% of adults will have neck pain, whether it’s episodic or chronic in their lifetime,” said Yale New Haven Health spine surgeon Raj Gala, MD, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Yale School of Medicine.
The good news is most neck pain can be addressed with moderate interventions. Finding the source of that pain will be important for finding long-term relief.
The most common type of neck pain is muscular. That can feel like tightness in the neck muscles or pain when turning your head. The muscles may feel swollen and tender. That may be caused by muscular strain from daily activities such as working on computers, texting, or driving.
The next category of pain is degenerative pain. As discs start to wear with age, that may result in an achier pain. Sometimes patients will hear a clicking or crackling sound with movement. Once nerves get involved, nerve pain can feel like tingling. It may also radiate down the shoulder and feel like hot or electrical pain.
The most troubling symptoms may not even include pain at all. Instead, patients may present with symptoms such as clumsiness, dexterity issues, falling or dropping things. That could be the result of spinal cord compression. That is more difficult to diagnose because patients may ignore their symptoms, attributing them to normal aging.
In some cases, severe symptoms could be the sign of an infection in the spinal cord or even neurological issues like a stroke. Warning signs that should prompt immediate emergency care include:
“When someone comes in, I first ask them about their symptoms and I try to figure out where I think the symptoms are coming from,” said Dr. Gala. “I then try to tease out what they’ve tried at home. Often, I find that a lot of people haven’t tried a lot of the basic stuff first.”
For day-to-day aches, Dr. Gala recommends focusing on ergonomics. Raise screens so they are at eye level and help keep the neck properly aligned. For neck strain, basic neck stretches such as chin tucks can be helpful. In addition, try alternating heat and ice, followed by over-the-counter pain relievers. If that doesn’t provide any relief, the next step is usually physical therapy.
In some cases, additional medications such as muscle relaxers, prescription anti-inflammatories or steroids can be helpful for nerve pain. But they aren’t the quick fix patients may be hoping for.
“They can offer some symptomatic relief,” said Dr. Gala. “But for most patients, if the exercises aren’t working, it usually means there’s something else mechanically wrong, which pills aren’t going to fix anyway.”
Surgery can be a good option for relieving nerve pain, but only if other more conservative treatment hasn’t worked first.
Making lifestyle changes can go a long way in preventing neck pain from happening in the first place.
“Think about your work and desk and how you spend your free time with reading and being on your phone,” said Dr. Gala. “Once you develop healthy habits, it will make the biggest difference long term.”
If you sit for long periods of time at work, build in breaks every half an hour. Take deep breaths, roll your neck back and focus on good posture.
When sleeping, use one pillow. Stacking too many can tilt your head, putting strain on your neck. For side sleepers, pick a firmer pillow to ensure the neck is aligned properly.
Other healthy lifestyle habits include quitting smoking and staying properly hydrated. Smoking has been shown to accelerate disc degeneration, and dehydration can also impact discs, which are 90% water. With time, not drinking enough water can cause them to get dry and cracked.
One of the hardest changes to make may be addressing stress.
“When tension builds up, your shoulders creep up and people get a lot of jaw pain and neck pain,” said Dr. Gala. “The sooner you can manage your stress, it will take stress off your neck as well.”
