Necprotech - Combating Neck Pain

Necprotech won the New Zealand version of Dragons Den. 'Big Deal' you might say, knowing that New Zealand's Dragon Den isn't particularly famous for non-sheep shearing related innovation, but Darrell Poole, the guy who invented this device, had plenty of reason to be concerned about the chronic neck aches caused by looking up all day. He was a rock climber who was dropped nearly to his death by someone who should have been watching him climb but was taking a break from looking up so they could rest their neck.

And before we judge that person too harshly spend five minutes looking at the ceiling and see what you feel like. Your head weighs as much as a bowling ball (ok some are slightly bigger and don't have three holes in the top) so when you move it out of line with your spine for any length of time it starts to pull on the nerves and muscles and restrict the blood supply to your brain. In addition it compresses nerves and can even trap them in the vertebrae. This can cause major pain in the shoulders, arms and even the legs. It can give you blinding headaches and slow the blood supply to your brain. In short it makes you feel like the morning after your stag night, minus the tattoo. And just like a hangover, when neck ache gets too bad you just can’t work. I'm sure we all know plasterers and painters who have had to give up doing ceilings for this reason.

What Necprotech does is to cradle your head and support it so there is no strain on the nerves and muscles. The support is made of ABS plastic, connected to a harness that the user wears in much the same way as someone straps into a rucksack. As I found in my test you have to pull the straps fairly tight in order to maximize support and the neck support needs to be adjusted on the ratchet so it sits in the right place. Once it’s set up you can put it on and take it off in seconds. You can wear it under a hoodie if you don’t want people to see it but the chances are that once others see you wearing it and try it for themselves they’ll want one. Even if you don’t yet suffer from neck problems you may well do so if you have to look up a lot. Neck and upper limb disorders account for 45% of all work related disorders in Europe according to a recent EU study. The Necprotech is a good preventative measure so it’s worth trying before you become a chronic sufferer.

The decorator in the picture is Nick Lawrence and he has suffered on and off from neck and shoulder aches for years and over that period has spent a fortune on all sorts of physio' and bone crunchers as well as acupuncture. We came across him when he was off work and on pain killers. He couldn't look up even if Angelina Jolie had been dangling half naked from the upstairs window. He put on the Necprotech and tentatively went back to work. “If nothing else it reminds me that I shouldn't look up too much and it cradles the back of my head”, he told us. The real benefit however is in preventing the injury in the first place.

The Necprotech is available in Europe through JSP distributors of safety equipment.

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