It happens at this time of year – too much to do, not enough time to do it in and lots of deadline stuff due on the computer. That stiff neck has gotten a little worse each day. Now the head turns barely, as pain shoots into the neck and shoulder.

My name is Susan Peterson, and I am a licensed massage therapist. I see this type of problem almost every day. Let me share a story from one of my clients.

She’s very active in the gym and at work and nothing stops her from accomplishing her goals. She has new bifocal glasses and she has found herself squinting at the screen and tilt her head back to read. Her working posture is tight, focused and pitched forward. That stance strains muscles at the back of the neck and shoulders.

With a big report due, and a few extra hours of stress, that nice, long, stress-relieving workout has suddenly had the opposite effect. Her neck pain woke her up several times during the night. In the morning turning to the right seemed impossible.

During her massage we addressed the neck, back muscles and the arms. The scalenes, small stress-sensitive muscles on the sides on the neck, felt like iron rebar. They are supposed to feel like soft rubber bands.

After her massage, I suggested she call her optometrist and see about getting eyeglasses that would keep her from squinting or crunching to read her computer screen.

I called my client to follow up a few days later.

“It felt a lot better and I got a good night’s sleep.’’ she said. She has an appointment for new glasses, and is trying not to lean too far into the computer screen at work.

“I was thinking, one of the things that may have set it off is that I have to walk from my car to the house, and I had bags from the store. I don’t like to make many trips, so I loaded myself with like 10-12 bags and I think that may have aggravated it.”

“I have to remember that I am not Superwoman,” she said.