Neck Pain Relief Exercises

A stiff neck can make your world stop at a particular angle, no more twisting and turning, just a whole body movement, which can have a very troublesome and taxing effect on you. It is, however, important that you do a test so as to figure out the reason for the neck pain, which could vary from a collar bone injury, arthritis of the spine and neck, broken shoulder blade or something as small as an improper sleep posture.

[Read: What is Neck Pain?]

Below are some effective neck pain relief exercises.

Side Head Turn: Sit or stand in a comfortable position. Turn your head to the right. Place your right hand on the left side of your head and your left hand on the rear of your head. Try to turn your head to the left while applying light pressure with your hands. Hold the position for 5 to 10 seconds and switch sides. Do three or four holds in total at a time. This works the sternocle idomastoid muscles located on the sides of the neck.

Forward Tilt: You will need to place your hands on the back of your head with your fingers interlaced. Now, slowly tilt your head forward, look down towards the ground and move your head back to the straight position by applying slight pressure on your hands. Hold this position for about 5 — 10 seconds, relax and do it again three or four times.

Side Tilt: You must look forward and tilt your head to your right as far as you can by lowering the ear towards your shoulder, making sure that you are comfortable while doing so. After this, place your right hand on the left side of your head and apply little pressure. Now, push your head closer to the shoulder and hold the position for 5 – 10 seconds. Release your hand and repeat on the other side. You must do these three or four times on each side.

Rotations: To do this, you must lie on your back with your head on a pillow. Look straight up into the air and rotate your head to the left until your chin is just about in line with your shoulder. Repeat this and rotate your head all the way back around to the right. Go back and forth 10 – 12 times.

Retraction: Sit in an upright position and place your index and middle fingers on your chin. Now, move your head straight back with your chin in a horizontal position with your nose pointing forward. Bring your head forward until you touch your fingers, and then move it back again. Do 10 to 12 reps.

While it is safe to do these exercises, you must also be careful not to overlook some impending danger that is probably causing the neck pain.

[Read: Understand Pain]