Safe neck exercise
If you’re like me, you’ve already done many things to relieve neck pain that actually cause damage over time. Much of our neck pain is preventable, once we understand the causes. So we need to discover our specific needs, take steps to prevent damage, and establish an exercise routine to help prevent damage from unavoidable neck strains. Read on to learn that neck pain is usually not as difficult or complicated as it sounds.
Understanding Neck Pain: The neck carries all the nerve signals, nutrients, and air our body needs to function, and all the blood for our brain to function. That is why the first thing we should all know about our neck is to do nothing without consulting a doctor … especially if we are already feeling pain. Because the neck carries all of our body’s nerve signals, neck pain can be felt in our shoulders, arms, hands, abdomen, legs, feet, and … um … neck.
Pain can be caused by muscle tension, emotional stress, nightmares, sneezing, cough, cold, flu, swollen glands, thyroid diseases, tonsils, computer work, osteoporotic fractures or injury, meningitis, encephalitis, some cancers, etc. Do you see why a doctor can be helpful if you have neck pain? Most of the time, this is just a simple muscle strain or stress, so don’t think it’s one of those exotic diseases. Of course, doing more than taking over-the-counter medications for neck pain can cause more harm.
Neck Damage Prevention: I was one of those dumb teens who learned to relieve a stiff neck by “snapping” my neck like a stiff joint pops. While this temporarily relieves pain, it can cause a fracture right away and eventually lead to osteoarthritis. I have a lot of different neck pain, now, because I treated stress like it was my disjointed neck. Neck damage can come from a car accident or fall, lifting or straining other muscles, or something as simple as a sneeze. Obviously follow lifting precautions and other neck injury safety precautions when possible.
Safe Neck Exercise – When neck strains cannot be avoided, the risk of injury can be reduced by strengthening the neck. The head is extremely heavy and it only has the neck to support it. By strengthening the neck muscles, we can significantly reduce the chance of a neck injury. Of course, as in other areas, to avoid injury, consult your physician before starting a neck exercise program. All programs should start gradually and build up very slowly … especially the neck.
1. Thumb Push: This is an exercise in which you sit in a straight-backed chair and push your head with your thumb, while opposing that pressure with your neck muscles. Push five minutes (start with 30 seconds) in one direction, then another, until you have circled the head (30-40 minutes total). This is easy to do while watching TV, reading, or talking on the phone. If it hurts where your thumb touches your head, you are pressing too hard.
2. Head weight: should be done very slowly and carefully, with no extra muscles pushing in the direction the head is moving. While standing or sitting in a straight-backed chair, slowly lower your head towards one shoulder, then lift it up and slowly lower it towards the other shoulder. Do the same in front and behind (do not push with your muscles). After doing this once, lower your head to one shoulder, then slowly “roll” it in a kind of dropped circle (don’t push). Increase from one of these a day to 10-20. Never do this if it hurts.
3. Shoulder Roll: While standing with your feet pointing in the same direction, a natural distance apart, with your head up and arms down at your sides, roll your shoulders forward four times and back four times, applying pressure with the shoulder muscles. . Try to repeat these exercises 10 to 20 times a day. This is very effective at work, to relieve stress from deadlines, computers, coworkers, etc.
4. Stretching: After any of these exercises, stretch your neck and upper back muscles before resuming normal activity. In the same posture as 3. above, slowly relax your neck from top to bottom, allowing your head to roll forward. Let your arms move forward as you continue to relax your upper back to just below your shoulder blades. Don’t lean, let your head and shoulders drop forward. Without straining it with any muscles, just hang there for 30 seconds, then slowly stretch from your mid-back to your head.
If you have any sharp pain in your neck or back while doing any of these, see a doctor. If you have muscle pain a day or two later, you are putting pressure on your muscles or progressing too quickly in your routine. When you exercise at the right pace, all you should feel over time is a little toning of your neck and shoulder muscles.
The neck, like other areas of the body, can be strengthened, to reduce injuries and provide better physical shape. Obviously, this is not a miracle system. We’re not going to get immediate neck pain relief from exercise. What you can get over time is fewer injuries and less frequency of neck pain, a stronger posture, better endurance for work, and a better ability to handle physical and psychological stress. I think that’s a lot of a simple exercise.