Hi, I’m Dr. Steph Pinnow, your chiropractor for neck pain. And today I’m gonna show you three really simple exercises that you can do to help with neck pain especially for those of you that have been in an office and now are suddenly finding yourself at home maybe not with the best posture hunched over the keyboard in that computer.
Best Exercise for Neck Pain Sun Prairie WI
So number one, the first thing that we’re going to do is work on the levator scapulae muscles which are the muscles that kinda go alongside of your spine here and you can feel it right in your upper shoulder.
So what you’ll do is, I prefer to say why don’t you do this standing up since you’re probably sitting all day so you’ll stand up, you’ll bring your chin down to your chest.
You’re gonna turn to about a 45 degree angle. Whichever way your chin is pointing, you’re gonna take that hand, put it right on the back of your head and you’re gonna gently just kinda pull down.
So you should feel a nice stretch going back along that muscle that I just showed you.
You’ll wanna do that between 20 and 30 seconds. We recommend doing it on both sides even if just one side of your neck is hurting you and three times a day.
Second Exercise for Neck Pain Sun Prairie WI
The next exercise is for your traps, your trapezius muscles which are the ones right
here that you can see. This time, you’re gonna bring your ear to your shoulder just like this.
Again, whichever way your head is pointing, you’re gonna take that hand, put it right on the top kinda side of your head right here and then you’re really gently gonna pull down towards the shoulder.
You should feel a stretch in the traps and then also in these scalene muscles right here.
Okay, same thing, hold it 20 to 30 seconds. You’ll do the same thing on the other side three times a day.
Third Exercise from Your Chiropractor for Neck Pain Sun Prairie WI
The last exercise, again, I really want you to standing up for this. This is called Bruegger’s posture relief.
So what you’ll do is you’re gonna put your arms out like this. Thumbs are gonna be up pointed up like this.
You’re going to pretty much think about bringing your shoulder blades back so you’re gonna draw your shoulder blades together like this so sticking out your chest a little bit and bring your arms up a couple inches off of your hips.
You’re gonna give yourself a double chin and look straight ahead, I know it’s attractive, just like this.
You’re gonna stay in this position. If it should feel kind of uncomfortable here and kind of uncomfortable in the back of your neck, you’re doing it right because those are the
muscles we’re trying to work because they’ve been a little weak lately.
So bring that chin back, take a breath in. All the way out. You’ll repeat that three to five breaths and then release. You’re supposed to do that one I think every 20, 25 minutes is the recommended time.
That’s hard for most people to remember. If you’re somebody who uses visual cues, let’s say you’re listening to the radio at work.
Maybe just try to do it every time you hear a commercial on the radio or if you’ve got the TV
playing in the background.
Otherwise, do it at least every hour because hopefully you’re up and walking and taking a break at that point anyway.
So there you have it, three really simple exercises you can do at work, at home, pretty much anywhere.
Try not to do it while driving though. All right, we’ll see you soon.
Thanks.
