These neck pain stretches are done in real time, so follow along. These should help with general neck pain, neck spasms, tension headaches, or even that mean ole crick in your neck. This neck stretching routine takes about 12 minutes.
These neck pain stretches should be done with a 30 second hold, and do three on each side.
First start off with some gentle neck movements to warm up your muscles by turning your head from side to side like you are looking over your shoulder. This is neck rotation. Now you are going to take your ear to your shoulder on each side. Make sure you are not shrugging your shoulders up. This is side bending. Then you are going to bring your chin to your chest and then looking up towards the ceiling. This is neck flexion and extension.
Next you will do a chin tuck. You don’t want to tuck it down to your chest, but take your chin, and pull it backwards. You can put your finger on your chin, as a target or starting point, and then tuck it in. Hold it for about 3-5 seconds, and then relax. Do this about 3-5 times.
Now place your hand under your thigh to keep your shoulder down, then side bend your head to the opposite side and gently put pressure with your other hand to get a stretch through your trapezius muscles. Hold these for 30 seconds and perform 3 times on each side.
The final stretch is going to be for your levator scapulae muscle. This is the muscle that is used when you shrug your shoulders, and they can get overworked when you are stressed out. Take your arm on the side of the pain and place it above and behind your shoulder. Then take your opposite arm and place on top and slightly behind your head. Look down towards the opposite knee of the pain and apply gentle pressure for a good stretch.
Frozen shoulder, technically known as adhesive capsulitis, is a condition that causes stiffness and pain in the shoulder joint from adhesion build-up in the joint capsule. Stretches & exercises like these can help speed up the recovery time.
A pinched nerve (or cervical radiculopathy) is basically when the nerve coming out of the spine gets irritated at the nerve root. This can cause pain and weakness going down into the arm. These exercises should help.
Sore neck muscles are common when starting a new workout program or when exercising a little too hard. These neck stretches can help relax a sore & tight neck and provide pain relief.
Cervical spondylosis can cause achiness and soreness as well as decreased motion in the neck. These stretches and exercises may help relieve the symptoms.
One of my favorite stretches for shoulder pain relief is an arms above the head stretch. It’s great for the shoulders as well as the neck, and upper back.
Shoulder pain can be caused by tight muscles, especially when we have bad posture. Here are 3 of my favorite shoulder stretches to help relieve pain in the shoulders, neck, chest, and the upper back area.
My favorite daily exercise for easy neck pain relief is a chin tuck. It’s great for the neck, shoulder, it can help relieve headaches, and it can even help correct posture. Chin tucks are not only a great neck pain relief exercise, but they are also a great stretch for the neck as well.
These rotator cuff exercises are for the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, & subscapularis, and many of the muscles around the shoulder. For pain relief & rehab, it’s important to exercise all of these.
These neck pain stretches are done in real time, so follow along. These should help with general neck pain, neck spasms, tension headaches, or even that mean ole crick in your neck. This neck stretching routine takes about 12 minutes.
