A stiff, aching neck at the end of the day is something many people live with. If you smoke, you may not have thought of it as connected, but research suggests the two can be linked. Knowing why can help you make changes that feel manageable, whatever stage you are at.

The link between smoking and neck pain

Studies have found that people who smoke are more likely to report neck pain than people who do not. Smoking is also linked with other kinds of long-lasting pain, like back pain, which suggests it can affect how the body handles pain more generally.

Neck pain usually has several things feeding into it, like long hours at a screen, stress, sleep and how much you move. Smoking is one piece of that picture.

Why smoking may play a part

The discs and joints in your neck, like those in your lower back, rely on a good blood supply to stay healthy. Nicotine narrows blood vessels and carbon monoxide reduces the oxygen your blood carries. Over time, this may make it harder for these tissues to recover from everyday wear.

Smoking may also make your nervous system more sensitive to pain. When pain lasts a while, the nervous system can start to act a bit like an alarm that goes off more easily, and nicotine seems to affect the areas of the brain involved in that process.

There is also the way smoking fits into a day. Smoke breaks often mean standing in one position, sometimes with shoulders hunched against the cold, and stress is a common trigger for both smoking and neck tension.

Small steps for your neck

Whatever you decide about smoking, there is plenty you can do for your neck. A few things to try through the day:

• Slowly turn your head to look over each shoulder.
• Gently tilt your ear towards each shoulder.
• Roll your shoulders backwards five times.
• Draw your shoulder blades gently back and down, hold for a few seconds, then relax.

If you would like to follow along, VIDA has short videos of shoulder squeezes and guided neck stretches you can use at your own pace.

Looking at your screen set-up

Long spells looking down at a screen are one of the most common reasons necks stiffen. Bringing your screen up so the top is around eye level, and holding your phone a little higher, can help. Short movement breaks matter most. VIDA’s Pomodoro stretches, in the top right corner, can prompt you to pause during focused work.

Rethinking your breaks

If smoke breaks are a regular part of your day, you could try using some of them to move instead. A short walk, a few neck turns and some slow breaths can give your neck a break and help you reset. Research suggests even a short burst of activity can ease cravings for a while, so movement can be a helpful swap if you are cutting down.

If you are thinking about stopping

Stopping smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health, and your circulation starts to improve within weeks. If you are thinking about it, support makes you more likely to succeed than going it alone. Stop smoking services, pharmacists and nicotine replacement products can all help.

Small steps count. Cutting down, setting a quit date or simply finding out what support is available are all worthwhile places to start.

Easing stress and tension

Stress often shows up as tension in the neck and shoulders. A quick check a few times a day can help. Let your shoulders drop, rest your teeth slightly apart and take a few slow breaths, breathing out a little longer than you breathe in. This can be a useful thing to try when a craving or a stressful moment hits.

Your VIDA pain check-in can help you spot patterns, like whether your neck feels worse on more stressful days.

What to take away

• Smoking is linked with neck pain, as one piece of a bigger picture.
• Move your neck and shoulders gently through the day.
• Raise your screen and take short movement breaks.
• Try swapping some smoke breaks for a short walk.
• Support makes stopping smoking more likely to succeed.

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