He bought the chair. The good one. Adjustable everything. The neck pain politely stayed.
You've tried the ergonomic keyboard, the standing desk, the lumbar pillow. The furniture improves. You don't.
This surprises many people: the same chair holds different bodies differently — depending on what those bodies are bracing against.
What I've noticed across thousands of desk workers: necks often hurt not from where the screen is, but from how the person is meeting their day. A neck preparing for criticism sits differently than a neck at ease. Shoulders anticipating an email behave like shoulders anticipating a blow.
Posture is not furniture. It is a relationship — between you and what you expect to happen next.
Sometimes the cause truly is setup. Sometimes it's hours without movement. Sometimes it's tension wearing your neck as its office. Same ache, different tenants.
What is your neck getting ready for?
Once every hour, exhale and let your shoulders drop as if setting down two bags. Two seconds. That's all.
Pain with numbness, tingling into the arms, or that wakes you at night warrants proper medical assessment — not another cushion.