This video, I'm going to show you how to fix levator scapulae
pain for good. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to focus on
fixing a tight and achy levator scapula muscle, a big
instigator of upper back and neck pain. When this muscle
becomes strained and irritated, you can get a lot of pain from
the top of the shoulder blade into the shoulder into the side
of the neck. It usually comes about from tightness and
weakness in the muscle. So, to make it in relief easy, I'm
going to break the video up into two separate parts. In the
first we're going to focus on stretching with a combination
self massage to get quick pain relief and the second part,
we're going to focus on getting rid of it for good by
strengthening the muscle and some more muscles to help
support it. Both parts work just a little bit differently
but when you put them together, you get the best of everything.
So, go through em all and use what gives you the most relief.
As a bonus, all of the exercises can be done at home
require no special equipment and you may find give quick
pain relief even within 30 seconds. So, let's get started
and fix that levator scapula pain for good. So, in this
part, we're going to focus on getting quick pain relief by
targeting muscle tightness. That's muscle knots, spasms,
and trigger points. This will be a combination of stretching
with a self massage to take it to the next level. These are
perfect to do throughout the day anytime that you feel neck
pain or headaches starting to build. So, let's focus first on
stretching and lengthening the levator scapulae muscle with
what is known as the armpit sniffer. Whatever that you're
having pain. Let's say it's your right side. Turn your head
in the opposite direction to look over your shoulder as much
as you can. When you can't go any further, take your hand on
the non-painful side, hook the back of your head, passively
pull your chin downward towards your armpit. You'll feel a deep
stretch forming from the top of the shoulder blade into the
shoulder into the side of the neck. Hold this one comfortably
for about 20 seconds. You're just going to relax. On the
next repetition, try to stretch into it just a little bit more.
I like to do this one three to five times. If you would like
to take this one to the next level, you can turn it into an
active stretch to hit the muscle just a little bit
differently. So, with this one, let's get back into our stretch
but straighten the arm on the painful side and now scoop
forward with your shoulder blade. It's really important
that we scoop with our shoulder blade on this one. Reach across
your body towards the floor. You'll notice the muscle fire
just a little bit differently. Hold this one three to 5
seconds. You're just going to relax and now what you're going
to do is scoop the shoulder blade backward and reach
overhead in the opposite direction. So, we went from our
left and now we're scooping backward towards our right.
Hold for three to 5 seconds, release it, and then try to
repeat this 110 to 15 times in both directions. From there, I
like to build into my self massage to really target muscle
knots, spasms, trigger points that might be causing our pain.
For this one, we need to locate the levator scapulae muscle
which can be a little bit tricky. So, where it is is
right below our upper trapezius, this big muscle on
the top of the shoulder and it kind of goes down right through
here onto the top of the shoulder blade. So, what I need
to do is take my fingers and just crawl down until I find
the top of the shoulder blade. If you're unable to find that,
just raise and lower your shoulder up and down like this.
You'll start to notice the top of that shoulder blade starts
to come up and down and you're able to locate it pretty
easily. So, once you find it, you want to hook in the muscle
right above the of the shoulder blade and if this muscle is
strained and inflamed, you can get a lot of referred pain that
shoots up the side of the neck even towards the eyes. So,
press in there lightly not to the point where it's causing a
headache but now, you can do that armpit sniffer stretch
while massaging in there at the same time and this usually
feels really really good. So, give that a try for about 15 to
20 seconds. Relax and if it feels like it's helping out,
you can definitely throw in some more sets but I to move
over different spots too because any spot that you feel
needs more tension you want to spend some more time over that
and really break up any tightness because that usually
will offer you more relief you can also do the active stretch
at the same time while doing that so give that a try and see
if it helps you out just a little bit more but how I like
to take the self massage to the next level is by using a tennis
ball and for this one I like it because it hits a wider area
and the tennis ball does all the hard work for us so what
I'm going to is place a tennis ball right over that area of
the elevator scapula go next to a wall and then lean into it
with our body weight press in there where you're going to
have a very good self massage but again no headache from
there let's build into our armpit sniffer once we get a
very deep stretch going put all of your body weight onto your
heels and do a slight squatting motion so bend your knees and
just roll your body up and down that ball and it usually feels
really really good so I'd like to do this for about 15 to 20
just relax and then throw in a couple more repetitions if it
is helping. You can also experiment by going side to
side. You can do circular motions. Any movement that you
feel hits it just a little bit better. You can also do that
active stretch at the same time but go through all of these
motions if any of them feel like they're helping you out
just a little bit more. Throw more repetitions in and I do
recommend whatever you do on one side to switch to the other
to keep them both in balance. So one of the best ways to get
long-lasting levator scapulae pain relief is by strengthening
the muscle itself. Here's a very easy strengthening
exercise I call the levator scapulae raise. For this one, we
just need a simple weight. You can use a water bottle. You can
use a milk jug with a handle. If you do have dumbbells around
the house, use those. They work perfectly for this exercise.
So, let's start off by getting into position. You're going to
start seated at the edge of a chair with very good upright
posture. Doesn't matter what side you start with because
we're going to do it on both but grab your weights we need
to do is start to fire the muscle before we get into this
exercise. So, I'm going to focus on drawing my shoulder
and shoulder blade forward or anterior. Kinda think about
scooping with your shoulder blade forward until you start
to feel the upper trapezius right here start to fire and
that levator scapula muscle right below it. So, our focus
on this exercise, top of the shoulder and then towards the
top of the shoulder blade. Once we feel that, what I'm going to
do is slowly raise my shoulder upward towards the ceiling.
You'll really feel that muscle start to fire. If you don't,
really experiment with different angles of the
shoulder until you start to feel that muscle start to fire
but you want to hold this one for about five seconds. You're
just going to relax and then what you want to do on the next
repetition is build into it just a little bit more. Really
focus on trying to shrug that shoulder up as much as you can
but I like to do this one for about 10 to 15 repetitions and
then from there, I just take a breather and then repeat this
for three to 5 sets. To make it more challenging, just progress
into using heavier weights and again, whatever you do on one
side, always switch to the other to keep them both
imbalance. So, here's a really easy strengthening exercise
that you can do daily that doesn't require any equipment.
This is known as the shrugging lift off and it's going to
target a lot of muscles in a short amount of time including
the upper trapezius and those levator scapulae muscles. For
this one, we just need a smooth wall. Start off by facing the
wall having your chest flush against it for support. We're
going to do a basic shrugging motion. So, reach overhead with
your arms as much as you can and use your fingertips right
here to crawl upward towards the ceiling. When you can't go
any further, really focus on shrugging upwards as much as
you can. You should feel a lot of muscles firing in between
the shoulder blades, the upper back, and the shoulders and the
neck. Hold this one comfortably for 5 seconds. You're just
going to relax. On the next repetition, challenge yourself
to shrug up even more. I try to do this one for 10 repet If you
want to make this one more challenging, step away from the
wall so you don't have the support to do this or you can
start to use weights like dumbbells. The more weight that
you use, the stronger those muscles will get. So, really
try to challenge yourself to progress into using things like
dumbbells during this exercise. Let's build into the lift off
portion to target a little bit more muscles and hopefully get
better results. So, let's get back into our original position
with our chest flush against the wall. This time around, I'm
going to reach upward as much as I can When I can't go any
further, I'm then going to lift my arms and hands off the wall.
So, I'm reaching backward as much as I can. The key with
this one is to pinch the shoulder blades in the back and
try to open up the chest as much as you can. I feel a lot
firing. I get a five-second hold. You're just going to
relax and then build into it just a little bit more on the
next repetition. Try to do this one also for 10 complete times.
From there, you can then experiment with different
positions of the arm to target more muscles and take this one
to the next level. So, again, I'm going to get back into my
original position with my chest against the wall. This time
around, I'm going to reach off to my side. So, I'm kind of
like creating a T with my arms. We're going to then rotate our
hands so our thumbs are pointing away from us kind of
like a hitchhiker sign and the inner part of my hands right
here are flush against that wall. From there, I'm going to
do the same thing. I'm just going to lift my arms backward
pinching my shoulder opening up that chest as much as I can
five second hold I'm just going to relax and then repeat this
one up to 10 times you can also do a Y shape with your arms to
again hit the muscles a little bit differently so press into
it as much as you can and then lift off and you're really
going to feel a lot firing in the upper back with this one
this is a good one to target in between the shoulder blades too
5 second hold you're just going to relax repeat that one up to
10 times go through all of those motion If you feel like
one is really targeting that area of the trapezius and the
levator scapulae a little bit more, throw more repetitions in
at that point or you can do another set or two. If the
exercises help, please support the channel by giving this
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any comments or questions, please leave them below. I'll
get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for watching.