At Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, we see a lot of people who want to have a pain free neck. Neck pain can really make your life miserable. Every day things like sleeping, computer work, and working out can be painful. It can often cause headaches as well.
Weak muscles are one of the things that can lead to neck pain. Your neck and shoulder blade muscles need to be able to efficiently support the weight of your head.
The bad postures that people spend time in when on their cell phone or computer can make these muscles weak. When this happens they get overworked and you can get neck pain.
The good news is there are simple exercises you can do to strengthen the weak muscles and get out of pain. Here are 3 easy exercises you can do to strengthen your muscles and have a pain free neck.
Chin Tuck with Head lift
This exercise help increase the strength and endurance of some key neck muscles. Research has shown that these muscles often don’t work well in people with neck pain and headaches.
You don’t need to lie on a fancy table like this video shows. You can do this lying on your bed or on the floor.
Tuck your chin into your neck, lift your head just 1 inch off the floor. Hold for 5 seconds and then lower it back down.
The most important part is to keep your chin tucked into your neck the entire way through the lift, hold, and lower.
Start with 2 sets of 10 every other day. As it gets easier, increase the hold time to 10 seconds.
Prone Chin Tuck
This exercise is similar to the one above but it works the muscles on the back of your neck and your upper back as well.
It’s important to keep the chin tucked as you lift your head up. Hold for 5 seconds and then lower it back down.
Start with 2 sets of 10 every other day. As it gets easier, increase the hold time to 10 seconds.
Prone T
You don’t need to lie on a fancy table like this video shows. You can do this lying on the edge of your bed, a gym bench, or even on the floor.
The most important part is getting your elbows as high off the floor as possible.
Hold for 5 seconds at the top and then return to the start position. Start with 2 sets of 10 every other day and work up to 3 sets of 10.
None of the exercises above should make you hurt more.
If you’ve tried these and you’re still hurting, we can help you!
At Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, our physical therapists are experts at treating neck pain and will develop a plan to help you stop it.
Call us at 703-299-3111, or click here to request and appointment.
A member of our team will schedule you an appointment with one of our expert physical therapists.
What happens if you don’t have a plan for a pain free neck?
- You can’t sleep because your neck hurts
- You develop headaches that limit every aspect of your life
- You get out of shape and are more likely to get other diseases and injuries
But WITH a plan for a pain free neck you can live the life you want again.
The exercises above are a great way to get started. They don’t require a lot of time and are pretty easy to do correctly.
But if you want an expert to listen to your unique problems and guide you to success, a Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine physical therapist will create a plan specifically for you.
You’ll feel confident that you have the knowledge and ability to stop neck pain and do all the things you want.
Call us at 703-299-3111, or click here to schedule your appointment and start your path to healing.
Working to keep you living your best life,
The Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Team
