This video, I'm going to show you how to fix tight
suboccipital muscles in 30 seconds. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this video, I'm going to go over
four easy exercises that can give quick and long-lasting
pain relief for tight and achy sub occipital muscles. If
you're unfamiliar with them, they're a group of muscles that
lie below the occipital bone right at the base of the skull.
When these become strained and inflamed, they can cause a lot
of issues including upper neck pain that goes towards the back
of the ears, towards the side of the head, even towards the
eyes. They are a main instigator of tension
headaches. So, if you want to get headache relief, give these
exercises a try. Each one of these, they're going to work a
little bit differently. So, to give the best results, try them
all out and use what gives you the best relief. As a bonus,
they can all be done at home and you may find give quick sub
occipital muscle pain relief even within 30 seconds. So,
let's get started. So, this one is going to be a combination of
stretching with a self massage take it to the next level. It's
perfect to do throughout the day especially if you feel
tension building right below the base of the skull that
might lead to a tension headache. You can do this one
standing or seated. So, let's start off by activating the sub
occipital muscles with a gentle stretch. Very easy to do.
You're going to take two fingers, put them on your chin
right here, and just gently push your head backwards. We're
not trying to lean back like this but instead taking our
head backward as much as we can until you start to feel a very
good stretch forming in the neck. From there, what I'm
going to do is then take my chin downward towards my chest
as much as I can. You'll feel that stretch right below the
base of the skull, really start to intensify. Once we feel
that, we're going to hold this position, take our fingers,
interlock them, put them on the back of our head, and position
our thumbs right at the muscles right below the base of the
skull. From here, what I like to do is really press back into
my hands, and then use my hands to scoop my head forward like
this, passively pulling my chin down until I feel a deep,
comfortable stretch. This one usually feels really really
good and can give instant neck and headache pain relief. You
want to hold this one for about 20 to 30 seconds. From there,
you can just relax and then repeat this one three to five
times and with each repetition, try to build into it just a
little bit more. Challenge those muscles. How we can take
this one to the next level is by doing that self massage. So,
while I'm doing this stretch, take your thumbs right here
right below the base of the skull off to the side of the
spine and start to press into those muscles. This one usually
feels really good. I like to do nice circular motions in there
starting right near the spine but I don't go over the spine
only over the soft tissue and I do this right here for about
five seconds while I'm doing the stretch and then I move my
thumbs a little bit over and then repeat. Exploring that
whole area. For me, I feel right here a big muscle knot.
So, at that point, I'm going to stop over that spot and spend
some more time in there. Really focus any spot that feels tight
achy and again needs a little bit more time but from there
you can also experiment with different motions of your
thumbs to hit the muscle fibers just a little bit better
because you might get some more relief so instead of doing
circular massages with it hook the muscle with your thumbs
start right at the spine and then glide over towards your
ear you'll probably notice it hits the muscles just a little
bit differently so give that one a try you can also go up
and down with it diagonally anything that feels like it's
helping for you, go with that. How we can take this one to the
next level, I don't even know how many levels we're going to
be on at this point is to do this stretch but tilt your chin
towards the opposite direction. This one is really good for
anybody that has one-sided neck pain. Let's say I have a lot
going on on my right side. I'm going to get back into that
original stretch right here but whatever side pain that you
have, you're going to tilt your chin towards the opposite
direction. So, in this case, I'm going a little bit towards
my left. What you'll notice is the open up the neck right over
those sub occipitals too just a little bit more and I try to
hold that one20 to 30 seconds relax and then build into it
over the course of three to five repetitions and from here
too you can also do that self massage in there to target it
just a little bit more so experiment going all the way
towards the left go all the way towards the right any position
offers you more relief try to do that for about three to five
repetitions you can also take this one to even the next level
by using a tennis ball with this. I really like using the
tennis ball because you can dig in there just a little bit
deeper and it also hits a wider area with it. So, with this
one, I'm going to get back into my original stretch. Use one
hand right here to pull my chin down and then cup my tennis
ball with my hand and then start to dig into that area.
This feels really really good. I find myself doing this one
all the time at work but you can also use this method in any
of the positions. You can turn your head just a little bit and
do the same thing but go through all of them. If
anything is helping you out a little bit more, spend more
time in that spot and always target any muscle aches, muscle
tightness, trigger points, spasms, anything like that
because if we're able to break up that tightness, you're going
to get more relief. So, here's another really good combination
stretching and self-massage exercise. The nice part about
this one, you can do it right in bed or on a floor and it's a
perfect relief position if you have a lot of neck pain or even
a really bad tension headache. For this one, we need is known
as a peanut tool because it looks like a peanut. You can
get this locally at any sporting goods department
pretty much at any store also. They're pretty inexpensive. If
you would like to get one online, I will leave a link in
this video's comment section but a very inexpensive way to
make this at home is to take two tennis balls, place them in
a sock, twist it right here, make sure it's nice and tight,
and then create a knot so that way we have our peanut tool. So
I'm going to use my tennis balls right here. What you want
to do is lie flat on your back, get a bed or on a floor. You're
just going to position this peanut tool right at the base
of the skull. The nice part is is the spine is going to sit
right here in the groove. So, these two spots right here, the
humps I guess if you want to call em that way are really
going to hit those sub occipital muscles. So, from
here, what I like to do is gently press with my headweight
into the balls until I feel a gentle self massage forming and
then from there, I'm going to take my fingers and slowly take
my chin downward towards my chest. You're really going to
feel a very pinpoint self massage and stretch over the
sub occipital muscles and it usually feels really good.
Apply enough pressure where you're getting pain relief but
not causing a headache or making it worse. I like to hold
this one for about 20 to 30 seconds. I just relax and then
I repeat this one three to five times and with each repetition,
try to build into it just a little bit more. The nice thing
is with this too since these are kind of balls, you can
glide over these balls with your head to hit the muscle
fibers just a little bit differently. So, this position,
what I like to do is just go side to side with my head. You
can also go up and down with it. If it feels like it's
hitting it just a little bit better, throw that motion in
there while you do this stretch. You can also do a
flexion extension movement of the head too to have a nice
gliding motion up and down those sub occipitals. So, what
I do is I get back into that original stretch, driving my
head down, bring my chin towards my chest but really
focus on trying to drive this chin down as much as you can.
Hold this for about five seconds relax it and now take
your head all the way backwards so taking your chin away from
your chest and again holding this for about 5 seconds and
you're just going to repeat this nice and slowly for about
five repetitions wow this feels really really good if you have
a lot of tightness or pain off to one side you can target that
spot just a little bit more too by turning your head in one
direction so get back into this position now turn your head to
look over your shoulders much as possible When you turn
towards one direction, you're going to feel that the peanut
tool starts to hit the muscle in a little bit more on that
side. So, I'm turning a little bit more towards my left and
it's really digging into that left suboccipital at the base
of the skull. It feels really good. Hold this one for about
20 to 30 seconds. Relax and then try it on the other side.
I like to do this on both sides for about three to five
repetitions. From there, I like to target another supporting
muscle that help with the suboccipitals. It's known as
the upper trapezius because if we can take stress and tension
off that muscle, likewise, it will help with taking it off
the sub occipitals. It runs right on the top of the
shoulder right here into the side of the neck pretty much
right behind the ear. How to activate this muscle is
whatever side that you're having pain. Let's say it's my
left side. Lift your bottom up like this, take the arm on the
side of pain. So, in this case, it's my left, bend your elbow
at 90 degrees and now, slowly just take that across your body
in the opposite direction. You should start to feel that
muscle right here at the top of the shoulder into the side of
the neck start to fire. That's that upper trapezius. From
there, I like to take my hand on the other side, hook my head
like this and then gently take my ear towards my other side
shoulder. You'll feel a deep opening stretch pretty much
from the base of the skull working its way into the side
of the neck to the top of the shoulder. This feels really
really good. The nice thing is is the peanut is also going to
help self massage the sub occipitals at the same time
hold this one for 20 to 30 seconds, you're just going to
relax I try to do this one three to five times and then
from there switch to the other side to keep everything in
balance so one of my favorite ways to get neck and headache
pain relief is with banded traction the nice part is too
this is going to do all of the hard work for us we just need a
pull up band these are pretty easy to find you can find them
locally at any sporting goods department if you would like to
get one online I will a link in this video's comment section.
So, let's get into position. What you're going to do is take
your band, take one end, go towards the backside of the
door, loop it around your doorknob, close the door for a
stable anchor point. That way, it won't come back to whack us.
On the other end of the band, roll up a towel at that end,
place it right on the base of the skull right here so you'll
have a little bit more comfort I should say. Lie flat on your
back, have your body in a nice straight line with this band.
From here, the movement is very easy. You just going to use
your legs right here to scoot downward. The more that you go
down, the more that you're going to feel a deep pulling
motion starting at the base of the skull working its way down
to the upper back. It usually feels really really good. So,
go to your comfort level. Once you feel that deep, comfortable
stretch. You want to hold this one for an extended period of
time. I try to hold it for three to 5 minutes. I'll
usually just grab my phone or just kind of close my eyes or
close my eyes and doze off. Just do nice, slow breathing.
The more that you relax into this, the better results that
you're going to get but if you do need a breather, just scoop
back like this and break it up into as many repetitions as you
like. To take this one to the next level, let's focus on
different neck motions to target the muscles just a
little bit differently. So, instead of keeping your chin
straight, turn your head to look over one shoulder as much
as you can. You'll notice then, it hits the neck muscles a
little bit differently. Generally, the side that you
turn to, you're going to feel it on the opposite side so go
all the way towards the left go all the way towards the right
you can also do what is known as a side bend taking your ear
downward towards your shoulder just like this so again go all
the way towards the right go all the way towards the left if
any of those positions offer you more relief spend more time
in that position so one of the best ways to get rid of
suboccipital muscle pain for good is to strengthen them
here's a really easy daily exercise that you can do right
at the edge of a bed start off on your stomach scoop forward
until your shoulders and head are off the edge of that bed.
From here, we're going to activate the sub occipitals.
I'm going to slightly tuck my chin towards my chest and now
draw my head upward towards the ceiling as much as I can. Kinda
like giving myself a double chin here. You're really going
to feel those muscles at the base of the skull start to
fire. Hold this one right here for about 5 seconds. You're
just going to relax and then on the next repetition, try to
build into it just a little bit more. Really challenge yourself
to drive that head up. I like to do this one for about ten to
15 repetitions and if you feel like you have a little bit more
energy, you can throw in another set or two. Let's focus
on some different movements now to target some more muscles and
hopefully strengthen them at the same time. So, instead of
keeping my chin straight down towards the floor, let's tilt
it a little bit towards one side shoulder. So, in this
case, I'm just tilting my chin towards my right and then
lifting up. You're going to notice the muscles in the neck
get hit just a little bit differently. So, throw a couple
repetitions in doing that. You can go towards the left. If any
of those feel really challenging or just feels
really weak, at that point, treat it like a weak link on a
chain. You want to focus on strengthening that. From there,
I'd like to focus a little bit more on my upper back muscles
to help stabilize that area and take stress and tension off of
the neck and suboccipital muscles. So, I'm going to get
back into my original stretch I should say the strengthening
exercise of lifting my head upward towards the ceiling but
I'm going to take elbows, bend them at 90 degrees, and now
lift my elbows upward towards the ceiling. Try to pinch my
shoulder blades at the same time. You're going to feel a
ton start to fire in between the shoulder blades, the
shoulders into the neck. It usually feels really good.
Five-second hold, you're just going to relax and then you can
repeat this 110 to 15 times. Again, throw in another set or
two if you feel like you have the energy. You can also put
your arms off to your side kind of like a Y position with
your thumbs upwards a hitchhiker sign and do the same
thing. You'll notice the muscles get hit just a little
bit differently. Go off to your side. You can also pull your
arms right in front of you and do the same. Another really
good one that I like to do is what I like to call the full
Nelson. I take my hands, just interlock my fingers, put them
on the back of my head, and do that original head retraction,
taking my chin towards my chest, lifting my head up, and
then this time around winging my shoulder blades together and
then also trying to drive my elbows up towards the ceiling,
you'll feel that tongue fire but go through all of those
motions. If you feel like one is just addressing more
weakness, tightness, or is just helping you out a little bit
more, throw some more repetitions in at that point.
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