hey everybody it's doctor jo and princess remy, and today i'm going to show you how
to relieve a sore neck from muscle knots or trigger points. so let's get started.
so when you have sore muscles in your neck, a lot of times they can be from trigger points
or some people call them muscle knots. but what that is is when the muscle gets really sore and
it kind of balls up into one place and it feels like a knot. so a lot of times with those knots
if you just stretch out those muscles, that helps release those those knots or those trigger points
because you're stretching out the muscle to get it stretched back out. so one of my favorite
ones for neck soreness or even neck pain is doing an upper trap stretch, and that that's that big
triangular muscle in the back the upper part of that muscle. so the way to stretch that or
one of the ways i really like to do it is sit on your hand on the side that is sore,
and that just keeps the shoulder down then you're gonna bring your other hand up and over,
almost like you're touching your ear there. you can you can come all the way over but if your
shoulder's a little tight, just kind of go towards that side. the way you're gonna gently pull your
head is completely to the side. so it's not at an angle. it's not looking up. you're kind of keeping
that head forward and just gently pulling to the side. and you should feel that stretch
right through there in that upper trap area. it shouldn't be painful. you don't have to
crank on it, you just enough to get that stretch. and you want to hold it for 30 seconds. that's
really what's going to let that muscle go and get that trigger point or that knot out of there.
so holding that for 30 seconds take a little break, do that three times. if you have enough
time, i suggest doing both sides. so then sitting on that side and gently pulling over this way.
just because even if you're not really having knots on that side, when the when the muscles
tighten up, it really causes causes an imbalance. so i would definitely do both sides. you can
alternate back and forth doing three on each side, or you can do all three on one side and
then switch and do all three on the other side. so your choice. so the next one that i really like
when you're having that soreness from you know either muscle knots or just neck pain in general
is a levator scapulae stretch. and so that levator scapulae muscle is the one that elevates or lifts
our shoulder blades. and so a lot of times when we're stressed out, or when we're starting a new
exercise program for the first time, we end up getting that muscle really tight because we're
bringing it up like this, and that overworks that muscle. and it starts down at that shoulder blade
or that scapula and goes all the way up into the neck where those cervical spine um the
muscles are up in there. and so that's per that's those cervical spine muscles. so this is a great
one to stretch ou.t sometimes there'll be a knot in it a lot of times it will be right down there.
and so a great way to stretch it out is if you comfortably can, on the side that you want to
stretch, you're going to kind of bring your hand back to that shoulder blade where you want your
elbow to be up as high as it can. now if this is a little bit tight for you, you can bring it here,
but this just kind of helps hold that shoulder blade down so you can get a better stretch. so
you don't have to if that's uncomfortable. you can still kind of put your hand underneath here, but
this is the way i learned and this is the way that i always feel like i get a the best stretch for.
so now this time you are going to turn your head almost like a 45 degree angle like you're looking
at your opposite knee or like you're going to tuck your nose into your opposite armpit over here.
so take your other hand and bring it up behind your head. so you're not coming to the side.
you're not pulling it over. this time you're coming at an angle. so i like to put it behind
my head up and over almost like a helmet on there, and then so you're going to pull down and in. so
like you can see almost like i'm trying to take my nose towards my armpit, or kind of that nose
down towards the opposite knee. so again you just want to feel a little stretch. it should be kind
of up in here a little bit higher up now in that area you might feel it down at that shoulder blade
kind of getting that angle. sometimes you might have to adjust a little bit to get that stretch,
but it shouldn't be painful. it should be a nice comfortable. a little bit of tension,
a little bit of uncomfortableness stretch, holding that for 30 seconds. and again if you have time,
i would work both sides because those muscles all come up and connect to the spine. so arm up this
way and then pulling down, almost like you're tucking your nose into your armpit or kind of
at that 45 degree angle while you're stretching there. so after you get that, you can shake it
out just a little bit. another one that tends to get really tight and sometimes get some knots or
those trigger points in it are scalene muscles, and we have three different sets on each side.
so with these, it's going to get the front ones, and i'll show you a couple different ways so you
can get the different angles because sometimes it's a little bit different for everybody,
one stretch is going to be a little bit better where the other one's going to be a little bit
better for someone else. so if i want to stretch this side, i'm going to take the other hand
and just kind of place it on that collarbone or that clavicle bone right there, just so i
can gently pull it down. that just kind of again helps hold everything down to get a
better stretch. and so once you do that you can either turn towards the same side and look up
and get that stretch through there, or some people actually like to look away and turn up to get that
stretch through there. so again since there's uh three different muscles of the scalenes in there,
you might get just a slightly different stretch if you look up. some people call this
the portrait pose, or you can kind of turn your head away and then get that stretch as well.
i would try both. see which one's the most comfortable for you. same thing
30 seconds hold three times. if you want to switch sides you can look up that way or you can turn
your head and go that way. and so you're still going to kind of get those stretches either way.
so then the next one again is one of my favorites. this is not only kind of stretching it out,
but it's strengthening a little bit too. and a lot of times when you have those muscle knots,
you do want to help strengthen the muscle when you work that muscle that's going to help relax that
muscle when it's in that tightened phase. and so this is just a chin tuck. and so if you've
seen any of my other videos, chin tucks are one of my favorites. it's good for posture, again
it's good for resetting those neck muscles, it's strengthening and stretching. so with a chin tuck
all you're doing is really tucking your chin in. so it's not going down, but it's taking
that chin and trying to push it back behind you. so sometimes i use my finger as a target.
sometimes i don't it's up to you. but if you want to use your finger as a target,
just place your finger on your chin, keep your finger in the same spot,
and then pull back. so it kind of brings that chin and gives you a couple little chins.
hold it for about three to five seconds. it doesn't have to be a long time and then relax.
and a lot of times, if it's tight, once you relax you'll have a little bit of space in between. so
it's nice to kind of get that visual feedback. but again you don't have to you can just tuck
that chin in. sometimes this is hard. if you're really tight, if those muscles are really tight,
if they're really sore, this is not going to be a big movement for you. you might just have
a little bit sometimes. if you stand next behind a wall, put your put your shoulders on the wall,
you can kind of try and push your head into the wall, and that'll help you get that chin tuck.
so the last one is kind of what a lot of people see for trigger points, releasing trigger points,
or muscle knots which is using a ball um to really get into that trigger point because
sometimes the stretches are are tough for people or maybe you have something where you shouldn't do
those specific stretches. so using a ball to get into that trigger point really helps. so let's say
i've got one here at my levator scap. this is just a racquetball. you can use a racquetball,
you can use a lacrosse ball if you want. something a little more firm. you can use a tennis ball it's
really your choice. some people will lie down on the ball. that's okay. but if you're really
sore that's going to be a little bit too much to start off with, so i usually just as simple
as finding that spot and then just pushing down on it. so all i'm doing is i'm pushing down that ball
into that spot just to get um right on that trigger point. and you can move it around a little
bit, and sometimes you'll go oh that's it. i feel that spot right there. and that's kind of how mine
is. i often have a trigger point right there where that levator scapulae muscle comes into
the scapula or the shoulder blade. so this one you can hold it for a little bit longer, like a
minute if you can tolerate it. but you might want to just start off with 10 seconds and then relax.
i wouldn't go pushing as hard as you can the first time because it will make you sore when
you're just pushing on that muscle. and sometimes just cranking on and cranking on it is actually
not going to be super beneficial. you want to give just enough pressure where you're feeling it, but
you don't want to be so uncomfortable where you're almost having tears coming down your face because
it's hurting so much because that's almost going to be a little bit um kind of counterproductive
to what you're doing because it's going to make it more sore. so really just finding that nice
amount. less is more. and if it feels okay, then you can progress that pressure as you go. so there
you have it that was a ways to relieve a sore neck from muscle knots or trigger points. if you'd
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