In this video, I'm going to show you how to fix neck pain
at home for good. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe from SpineCare in St. Joseph,
Michigan. In this video, we're going to help get rid of neck
pain, hopefully for good, in the comfort of your own home and to
make it easy, I'm going to break the video up into two
separate parts that work just a little bit differently. In the
first part, we're going to focus on getting everything
loosened up with some great stretching exercises. In the
second part, we're going to focus on long-lasting relief
with great strengthening exercises. Again, both parts
work just a little bit differently. Go through them if
you want the best results. As a bonus, all of these exercises
can be done at home and you may find get quick neck pain relief
even in as little as 30 seconds. So, let's get started
and fix that neck pain for good. In the first part, we're
going to focus on getting quick neck pain relief by just
stretching everything out. Let's get it loosened up. This
first one is known as a decompression traction
exercise. Think a deep pulling motion into your neck. It feels
really good. This one, we just need the arm rest of a couch.
You can also use the edge of a bed or a sturdy chair, one
without wheels, depending on your height level. We're going
to start off on our knees too so make sure to put something
underneath it like a pillow for extra comfort. You're going to
start off by just finding our contact point and this can be a
little bit tricky. So, what I'm going to do is pretty much take
two fingers, go right behind my ears, go right at the base of
the skull, and kind of just do circular motions until you feel
two big bumps. Again, right behind the ears, right at the
base of the skull. That's going to be our contact point. So,
what I'm going to do is take the meaty portion of my palm
and hook upwards at those two spots and cup around my ears.
So, watch how I do this. Pretty much hook right there. I'm
going to bend my elbows and then I'm going to put my
backside of my arms right on that arm rest. Let's tuck our
chin towards our chest and from there, the movement is very
easy. I'm going to hook and pull upwards while lowering my
body to create that traction stretch. The you go down, the
more that you're going to feel a very good deep stretch
forming from the base of the skull working its way down to
the base of the neck even into the upper back. Only go for a
comfortable deep stretch. When you hit that, hold this
position for 20 to 30 seconds. Just do nice, slow, controlled
breathing. From there, just come back up and take a
breather. On the next repetition, try to stretch into
it just a little bit more. I try to do this three to five
times. You can take this one the next level by incorporating
a towel stretch in there. So the movement is very similar, I'm
just going to take the towel hook right at the base of the
skull and then I'm going to put my backside of my arms again
right on that arm rest. The movement, I'm going to pull
forward with the two ends right here and then lift upward
towards the ceiling, kind of at an angle where it's going
through my eyes 45° up and then I'm just going to lower my body
again taking my butt down towards my heels. With this one I
tend to find that it offers a little bit of a deeper stretch
and gives me better results so give them both a try and use
which one works best for you. 20 to 30 second holds, you're just
going to relax and then repeat this one three to five times.
You can take this one to even the next level by instead of
doing a straight pull with it, put a little bit of rotation on
one side. So with this one, what I'm going to do is get back
into that original position. I'm going to pull the two ends
build my traction but going to take one end and then pull it
upward towards the ceiling while rotating my head. So,
when you do this, it's going to hit the neck just a little bit
differently. Hold this one for 20 to 30 seconds, relax, and
then do it on the other side. Give those both a try and if
you feel like one helps you out a little bit more, you can
throw more repetitions in. So, one of my favorite ways to get
neck pain relief at home is with the band traction method
because we're going to use a pull-up band that's going to do
all of the hard work for us. Pull up bands are really easy to
find and they are inexpensive. You can pretty much find them
locally at any sporting goods department. You can also get
them online. If you would like to get one online, I will leave
a link in this video's description but if you do have
recurring or chronic neck pain, this is a worthwhile
investment. So, start off by taking your pull-up band and
looping it around the other side's doorknob. Close that
door firmly so at this point, we have a stable anchor point
and it's not going to come back and whack us. So, start off
lying flat on your back with your body in line with the
pull-up band. You don't want to be tilted. You want this in a
nice straight line. I like to put a towel over the end of
this band too for a little bit extra comfort but you're going
to position the band right at the base of the skull, kind of
hook right there. The movement from here is very easy. You're
just going to use your legs right here to pull yourself
down. The more that you go down, the more that you're
going to feel a deep stretch forming throughout the whole
neck only go to your comfort level. Well, you feel that, you
can hold this for an extended period of time. Me personally,
I try to work up three to five minutes and you can break that
up into as many repetitions as you'd like but if you need a
breather, just slide back and take one but just on the next
repetition, try to stretch into it just a little bit more. You
can do different dynamic movements of the neck too to
help open it up even further and maybe get some better
results. So, instead of just going straight with it, what
I'm going to do is just turn my head towards one direction.
Kinda like taking my head and looking over my shoulder you'll
notice that it hits it just a little bit differently so give
that a try going all the way towards the left you can also
go all the way towards the right if one feels a little bit
better at that point throw more repetitions in you can also do
what is called a lateral bend kind of like tilting your ear
towards your shoulder so give that one a try towards the
right go all the way towards the left again if you feel like
one helps out a little bit more throw some more repetitions in
you can also focus a little bit more on the upper back help
improve posture which will again help improve neck pain.
So, I'm going to do what is called a floor angel. I just
pull my arms up like this and then I bring my elbows all the
way down to the floor. From there, I'm going to lower the
backside of my hand towards the floor. You should feel a deep
stretch into the chest and also in between the shoulder blades
of the upper back. What I'm going to do is wing my elbows I
should say all the way towards the floor and then I'm going to
bring my elbows down towards the floor as much as I can. I
hold this for a couple seconds and then I'm just going to come up,
trying to keep the backside of my arms and elbows on the
floor. This can be really challenging if you have a lot
of tightness. I go slowly all the way up. Hold this one for a
couple seconds and then slowly come back down and repeat. I
try to do that one for about 10 to 15 repetitions and if it
feels pretty good and you have a little bit more energy, you
can throw in another set or two. So, without a doubt, one
of the best ways to get rid of neck pain for good is to
strengthen everything in upper back and neck. Here's a
combination exercise that you can do at the edge of a couch,
bed, or a chair. Very easy to do. I'm going to start off on
my knees too so make sure to put a pillow or towel
underneath them for extra comfort. Let's bend our arms,
take our hands, place them right on the back of our
shoulders. Take the back of your arms, place it right on
that flat surface that you're using. Tuck your chin towards
your chest. This first one is a variation of a cat camel pose
which is going to help increase flexibility in the back and
neck and also help improve posture and core strength. So,
what I'm going to do first is arch my back upward like this.
Sucking my stomach in and engaging my core muscles. Hold
this right here for about three seconds. From there, you're
just going to relax and allow your stomach now to go down
towards the floor. Really just try to build into this one.
It'll feel like it hits the muscles just a little bit
differently. Again, hold this one for about three seconds. I
try to do this one nice and slowly for about 10 to 15
repetitions and with each repetition, try to build into
it just a little bit more. If you feel like you have a little
bit more energy, you can throw in another set or two. So,
let's focus a little bit more into the neck and upper back
with this one. I'm going to slide the pillow back just a
little bit so my arms can go straight like this. Take your
fingers grip into whatever you're using. Tuck your chin
towards your chest and then just lower your butt down
towards your heels until you feel a gentle activation pretty
much from the upper back all the way down to the lower From
here, let's focus on the neck a little bit more with what is
called a head retraction. So, what I'm doing is I'm lifting
my whole neck and head upward towards the ceiling. I'm not
trying to bend it. I'm trying to lift it upward. You're going
to feel a lot of muscles fire in the neck. When you feel
that, what you're going to do from there is lift one arm up,
bend the elbow backward as much as you can like this while wean
the elbow up towards the ceiling. You'll feel a ton of
fire in the neck and also the upper back. I try to hold the
one for about 5 seconds and then slowly come back on the
next repetition just try to build up and then switch to the
other side and repeat try to do this 110 complete times and if
you feel like you have a little bit more energy you can throw
in another set or two so to take this one to even the next
level scoop forward a little bit and get back into that
original position what I'm going to do is focus on head
and upper back rotation so I'm just going to lift one elbow up
like this and then rotate my whole back and head upward
towards the ceiling, you're going to feel a ton fire in the
neck and the upper back. Try to hold this one for about 5
seconds. Relax and then just repeat it on the other side. I
try to do this one nice and slowly for about 10 to 15
repetitions on both sides and again, if you feel like you
have a little bit more energy, throw in another set or two.
So, a big cause of neck pain in today's world is because of
forward leaning bad posture. I think just using cellphones. It
causes tightness and weakness in the muscles of the upper
back and neck that hold this upright. So, here's a very easy
exercise that you can do standing to help with this. I'm
going to go next to a wall. I'm going to put my feet together,
space them a little bit away from the wall. So, your body is
going to lean into it. You want your bottom to your head
completely flush against it. Bend your elbows roughly at 90
degrees, tuck them to your side, and then press your
elbows into the wall. The movement from here is very
easy. I'm going to use my arm strength to press into the wall
and then lift my body forward. This is known as a shoulder
blade lift off. So, we're not trying to lean into this one
but instead pushing forward just like this. You'll feel a
ton of muscles fire in the chest and the upper back in
between the shoulder blades. We're going to take this one to
the next level by focusing a little bit more into the neck
with a neck retraction. So, keep your chin pretty well
parallel with the floor and then drive your head straight
back. So, again, we're not trying to bend into this one
but press backward as much as you can until you feel the neck
muscles fire. I pretty much feel everything from my neck
into my upper back firing right now. I hold this one
comfortably for about 5 seconds. From there, I'm just
going to relax, take a breather. On the next
repetition, try to build into it even more. You want to do
this for about 10 to 15 times and if you feel like you have a
little bit more energy, you can throw in another set or two but
to make this one more challenging, Just place your
feet a little bit further away from that wall. If the
exercises helped, please support the channel by giving
this video a like and maybe subscribing too. If you have
any comments or questions, please leave them below. I'll
get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for watching!