- Okay, Brad and I have searched the world
over for the best stretches for neck pain.
- Yeah
- And we have found 'em.
- Yeah.
It was kind of fun in Singapore
at that point in the world, but-
- We're gonna show ya.
♪ Bob and Brad, ♪
♪ the two most famous physical therapists ♪
♪ on the internet ♪
- All right.
This first neck stretch came from New Zealand.
- Ah, so we weren't too far away.
- Robin McKenzie.
He since passed away,
but he came up with this working on neck extension
and we tend to do it using a towel first.
Brad, do you wanna share your way
and I'll show my way.
- Sure, sure.
So I like to take a towel and spin it up like this
so it's kind of in a roll.
We're gonna put it back here,
and simply get good posture, shoulders back, sit up tall.
And then extension is looking back and up like this.
So first a little bit of a chin tuck,
support with the towel,
and just see how far back you can go.
And this is assuming that if you don't have the towel,
you go back and it hurts.
- Right.
- Yep.
- Or it doesn't go back very far.
- Yep.
Exactly.
- You really should be able to go way back.
- Yep, exactly.
And the towel, especially if it hurts,
a fluffy towel like this that's soft
really can make a big difference
on comfort and allow increase.
Now, if it starts to hurt, that's far enough.
Just bump into the pain and come back,
support here.
You've got another trick Bob?
- The other thing you can do this like once a hour.
- Yep.
- Six to eight times a day.
- Keep your towel with you.
- Yeah, you can actually,
I got a pillowcase here.
- That works good too.
- And I'm gonna actually,
I'm gonna go instead of pulling down-
- Yep.
- I'm gonna pull straight out,
maybe even up a little bit,
and try it that way.
And I'm moving my hands when I move my neck.
- So yeah.
So it's looking like that.
- And I might even try a different level,
like try it lower on the neck.
Higher in the neck, whatever works.
- I think in general,
I would say most of my patients, lower on the neck.
- Right, exactly.
- But use whatever works, whatever feels better,
whatever makes it less painful,
and move more.
- Again, maybe 10 reps.
- Yep.
- Six times a day.
- Exactly.
- The next progression is actually
to perform the same exercise without a towel.
- Yes.
- So Brad, you wanna show that?
- Sure.
So we're gonna, I'm gonna use my hands.
- Sure.
- But I mean, yeah, 'cause you're not,
if you, ah that might hurt there,
take the hands,
and I like to get it right down here,
typically lower in the neck
and then I'll kind of pull and splay a little bit,
and go back.
Sometimes I'll have people bring their elbows up.
It all depends what works.
- Now eventually if you can do it without the hands-
- Yep.
- If you can just go like this
and do these throughout day,
more power to you.
It's gonna actually make your neck better.
- Just remember, always start with good posture.
Get your butt back in the chair, shoulders back,
and a little chin tuck to get things lined up
before you extend.
- And it should always feel better.
If it's making your neck pain worse,
you're gonna stop it.
- Exactly right Bob.
- All right.
If the first two stretches did nothing for you.
I want you to try this one.
This is the one that works for me Brad.
- Sure.
- So you're gonna do a slight chin tuck
like Brad mentioned,
and then you're gonna side bend
to the side of pain.
So let's say I have the pain on this side,
on the right side. - Sure, okay.
- So I'm gonna chin tuck and bend to the right.
Chin tuck and bend to the right.
This is the one that really does it for me.
- And the only thing that I have to remind patients to do
when I have 'em do this is make sure you don't look over.
- Right.
- Like you're looking over your shoulder.
It's a strict side movement.
And about 10 reps Bob?
- Yep, the same thing, about 10 reps.
And again, six to eight times a day.
- Yep.
- Easy to do.
You can do it in a car even while you're driving.
Right?
- Yeah, just make sure you stay on the road.
- Be safe.
- I've had people take this hand and just support here.
- Right.
- And have some success with that as well.
- Give a little pressure.
- Yep.
Support there, pressure.
Alrighty.
- All right.
We actually probably should started with this one.
It's chin tucks with over pressure.
So we already talked about doing chin tucks,
but you can actually provide a little over pressure
by taking your two fingers,
and putting it on your chin like that.
- And part of the reason we say two fingers
is because we don't want you to start too aggressively.
- Right.
- It's a gentle push and see how that goes.
Should feel better by the time you get done.
- And then eventually you can take the crux of your hand
and actually push back.
This is great for neck headaches.
- Yeah.
Yep.
Stretches those muscles back in here
where those occipital nerves are
that can cause that full wrap.
- That's it.
We wanted to keep this simple
and we are simple minded.
So that should do it right Brad?
- Yeah, well speak for yourself Bob.
I'm a simpleton.
- All right, thanks.