In this neck of the woods...

In this neck of the woods...

Neck pain is well, a pain in the neck. There is a massive amount of muscles, nerves, and blood vessels in the neck, and because of this, there are many opportunities for dysfunction. The necks main function is to hold up your head, which is quite the task for such a small body part. The neck is made up of spine and muscles the help stabilize the head and its movements.  

Imagine it like this, you are holding a 10 pound weight up with your arm straight. Now this weight starts to move side to side, and rotate in all directions. Now do this, all day with no breaks. Your arm is likely to hurt, if not fall off from exhaustion. This is what your neck does everyday! Talk about a thankless job!

So now, lets give all these muscles a much needed vacation! Or at least a break! Imagine you have a needle coming straight out of the top of your head, when you are looking straight forward. Now, point this "needle" forward in front of you. This will cause a stretch on the posterior muscles of your neck, and even some back muscles. When in tension, these muscles can cause headaches and migraines. If you feel discomfort with this stretch, you should also look into giving your neck more support while sleeping, such as a rolled towel under your neck, or an extra pillow to snuggle if you are a side sleeper.

For the next stretch, move you head from side to side, as if trying to touch your ear to your shoulder. This is going to activate your SCM ( short name for a long muscle!). This is a very important muscle in your neck, as it controls many movements that you use on a day to day basis. This muscle is also responsible for most of the pain people feel in the neck. To stretch it out, let your shoulder drop straight down, and then slowly and gently let your neck fall the opposite way. If you want more of a stretch, you can place your opposite hand on your ear to help "pull" your head over. WARNING!! DO NOT PULL HARD ON YOUR HEAD!!  The key to stretching your neck is gentle and slow movements. You can also use a foam roller to help relieve some of this tension. Simply lay with the crook for your neck on the top of the foam roller, and simply look from side to side.

These stretches can significantly reduce the amount of tension in your neck, especially if you are doing them on a daily basis. If you have severe neck pains always follow up with your doctor as neck injuries can be very serious! 

Keep an eye out for next week's blog on FROZEN SHOULDER!

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