There are many ways to injure your neck. The ability to move and rotate your head depends upon the smooth coordination of vertebrae, disks, muscles and ligaments. Injury of any component will result in neck pain. The first step in dealing with neck pain is to see your doctor to determine the nature of the injury. Usually you will be instructed to rest for a period time, ranging from days to weeks. After the period of rest ends, you will be encouraged to stretch and exercise the neck in order to regain its range of motion.
Before You Begin
Stretching and exercising your neck should never increase your neck pain. If you feel increased pain, stop. You may be re-injuring your neck. If you gently stretch and move your neck over a period of a couple of weeks, you should see a dramatic increase in your range of motion.
Remember that you should always let a doctor examine your neck before you begin to stretch or exercise it, especially if the pain you feel is sharp, severe, or accompanied by other symptoms like numbness in your arms or pain between your shoulder blades.
Neck Stretches
The key with stretching your neck is to move very slowly. This reduces the number of repetitions you need to do, and it increases your range of motion more quickly.
Start by standing up straight and facing forward. Slowly drop your head to look at the floor and hold for a count of five. Slowly look up at the ceiling and hold for a count of five. Look to your right and hold for a count of five. Look to your left and hold for a count of five. Lean your head to the left as if you were trying to put your ear flat on your shoulder. Hold for a count of five. Lean your head to the right and hold for a count of five. Return your head to the forward looking position. Move your head forward as if you were resting your chin on a table. Return your head to a forward looking position.
Perform this set of stretches three to five times a day until you have free range of movement. Remember as you perform the stretches to stop the motion if it starts to hurt. If you can only turn your head 1/4 of the way to the left to start without increasing your pain, then that's far enough. Over time you will find that your normal range of motion returns.
Neck Isometric Exercises
Neck stretches allow the neck ligaments to loosen their hold on your neck. Neck exercises help the muscles of the back and neck become strong enough to hold and move the neck correctly.
To perform the neck exercises, use your hands to hold your head completely still. The easiest way is just to hold your hands on your head like you are keeping a hat on.
Try to perform the stretches outlined in the previous section. Because you are holding your completely head still, the muscles in your neck will flex against them. Once again, make sure not to perform any motion that causes you to experience increased pain.
Pitting muscle against muscle in this fashion is called isometric exercise, and it is useful when you want to exercise and strengthen muscles without causing any movement that might injure the body.
Tags: your head, your neck, count five, hold count, hold count five, range motion