It's easy to make New Year's resolutions. But when back pain gets in your way, sticking with them all year is more challenging. I am a firm believer in making not only attainable goals, but pleasant ones, as well. So how do you make keeping your New Year's resolutions easy, fun and rewarding? Here are some of my tips.

Are you frantically searching for a last minute gift for a back or neck pain sufferer? Check out the iPhone (and iTouch) app called My Therapy Exercise. For $19.99, you can download this program which contains 170 physical therapy exercises. The exercises are video demonstrations with voice over explanations. Types of exercises include core strengthening, the foam roller, swiss ball and dumbells. You can save exercises into a "routine" for replay, too. My Therapy Exercise was developed by Robert Adams, a physical therapist from Beverly Hills, Ca. For more information, go to the My Therapy Exercise website.

Tylenol Arthritis Pain, made by McNeil, has apparently being recalled. About.com's Arthritis Guides Carol and Rick Eustice give the details.

As technology has firmly established itself in the driver's seat for the global economy, the quality of our work and play activities has changed considerably. Researchers at Ghent University in Belgium found that not only has the organizational structure of many businesses changed, but workers now need to access "different mental and physical potentials". Researchers from several parts of the world seem to agree that your satisfaction with your job and the quality of your relationships at work really matter to the health and well being of your neck.

The Task Force on Neck Pain for the Bone and Joint Decade (2000-2010) says that generally, multiple factors interact to create any risk for neck pain you may have. Of course, there are some things you can control, and some you can't. You can't control how old you are (older people are at higher risk), your genetics or your gender (women are more vulnerable than men).

But if you smoke (even 2nd hand smoking counts here), do precision work or repetitive things with your neck, or are sedentary, your risk is higher. Mental tiredness is another risk factor for neck pain.

If you are the pro-active type, you may want to know that researchers found a targeted exercise program for the trapezius muscle can reduce the pain for a common condition known as trapezius myalgia. Trapezius myalgia occurs a lot in office workers.

<sub>Sources:
Cagnie, B., et. Al. Individual and work related risk factors for neck pain among office workers: a cross sectional study. Eur Spine J. 2007. May 16(5)


Haldeman, Scott DC, MD, PhD, et. Al. The Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders: Executive Summary. Spine. 15 February 2008 - Volume 33 - Issue 4S.</sub>