Do you suffer from neck muscle strain, repetitive strain neck injury, or any other neck injury symptoms? All these can be caused by looking up when you are working.

Necprotech won the New Zealand version of Dragons' Den. ‘Big deal’ you might say, knowing that New Zealand’s Dragons' 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 (okay, 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 am sure we all know plasterers and painters who have had to give up doing ceilings for this reason.

Necprotech cradles your head and supports it so there is no neck muscle strain. 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 is 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 will 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 is worth trying before you become a chronic sufferer.

The decorator in the picture above 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. He also does regular neck strain exercises to alleviate the symptoms. We came across him when he was off work and on painkillers. He couldn’t look up even if Angelina Jolie had been dangling half naked from the upstairs window (okay, perhaps a quick glance) . 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.

Necprotech wins Top Product Innovation Award!

Professional Builder's Roger Bisby recently presented the 2008 Charles Godfrey Award for Innovation to Mark Johnstone MD  of JSP, the UK distributors of Necprotech.
JSP is a UK  manufacturer of  personal Protective Equipment and the award was presented at their research and production facilty new Oxford. The company has export partners in  over 85 countries and Mark had just returned from a trip to Russia where among other items he has been taking orders for hard hats and traffic cones.  Often confused by drunk students as one and the same thing.  

Roger Bisby presents the 2008 Charles Godfrey Award for Innovation to Mark Johnstone MD of JSP

The Necprotech is available in Europe through JSP distributors of safety equipment. For more information visit:
www.jsp.co.uk

For more information on Necprotech Ltd visit:
www.necprotech.com