How to treat a stiff neck..

Many Americans suffer with neck pain. This is also largely due to our sedentary lifestyles and the advancement of technologies. Most people here are sitting down for there jobs working on a computer. While this has really pushed our productivity forward, it’s taking its toll on the human body. Neck tightness and pain is a common cause of headaches and shoulder pain.

Most neck pain comes from tight muscles in your shoulder area and obviously your neck. When you are typing, most people are reaching out towards their keyboard. This has a tendency to shorten (tighten) the muscles in your chest and the front of your shoulders. Once a person starts to tire they normally start to lean forward, this rounds (stretches) the muscles in their upper back. This also lowers the level of the individual’s head. In order to the see the screen they must look slightly up, this shortens the muscles in the back of the neck. Staying in this position for a long enough time period will cause muscular imbalances – basically even when you’re not sitting in this position, your body will want to stay in this position. It is a result of the shorten muscles being stronger than the stretched muscles.

To correct this you must maintain proper posture throughout the day. Your keyboard should be close enough to you that you can keep your shoulders back. The top of your monitor should be at your eye level so your head can stay straight. This should help you keep your neck and back straight with your shoulders directly under your ears. This is proper posture of your upper body. If you feel yourself beginning to lean forward either correct your posture or take a walk away from your desk to reset yourself.

You can also help to counteract this problem through stretching and corrective exercises. As I stated earlier poor posture leads to weaken (stretched) and tightened (shortened) muscles which causes your joints to naturally sit in an incorrect position. If we strengthen (shorten) the weakened muscles and stretch (lengthen) the tightened muscles we can correct the natural position of the joint and relieve the pain.

Below is a basic workout plan that can help most people alleviate this pain – it is not tailored to any specific person and performing this could potentially make your problem worse. To find out if this program is right for you, you should seek a professional fitness trainer. They can tailor a program to correct your posture.

Hold all stretches for 30-40 seconds and perform them twice.

Stretch Scalenes (Neck Muscle) – Keep your shoulder blades back with your head looking straight ahead. Slowly – tilt your head toward your shoulder – you should feel a stretch on the opposite side of your neck. Once your time is up you can switch to the other side. Do not move your shoulder while performing this.

Stretch Levator Scapulae (Neck Muscle) – Keep you shoulder blades back with your head looking straight forward. Slowly - Turn your head as far as you can to one side. Once there Slowly tilt your head down. Again you should feel a stretch on the opposite side of your neck. Once your time is up you can switch to the other side.

Stretch Sternocleidomastoid (SCM another Neck Muscle) – Keep your shoulder blades back with your head look straight forward. Slowly – turn your head as far as you can to one side. Once in this position Slowly – tilt your head up. You should feel a stretch under your jaw on the opposite side. Once your time is up, switch to the other side. Make sure your mouth remains closed and your shoulders do not move.

Stretch Pectorals (Chest Muscle) – The safest way to stretch this muscle is to find a doorway. Reach your arm straight out along the wall with your elbow just slightly below your shoulder, then bend your elbow to a 90 degree angle so your palm is facing the wall. Keep your upper arm in contact with the wall (have no force on your palm) Slowly turn away bringing your elbow slightly behind your body – you should feel a stretch in your chest muscle. Once your time is up turn back into the arm and lower it off the wall, you can then switch sides.

Strengthen your upper back –
Low Row – You can do this exercise in a number of different ways. If your neck is in pain I would refrain from using dumbbells or barbells with such free movement it is easy to put your neck in a bad position. I would recommend using the cable low row machine that has no chest pad. This way you strengthen your core muscles (low back/abs) at the same time. Pick a weight that once you get to about 20 reps you are extremely tired. Make sure you maintain perfect posture throughout the exercise.

Again for more details and instruction consult a personal trainer, I can’t stress enough how valuable they can be.