hey everybody it's Doctor Jo and sleepy Bear, and today I'm gonna show you some of my
favorite neck pain stretches and exercises. so let's get started.
so before we get started, if you haven't already, make sure and click on the subscribe
button down there, and put it on public or let me know that you're a subscriber
because I always try and respond to my subscribers. so the first one is going to
be an upper trapped stretch. this one, if you've seen any of my videos, is that big
muscle up there it starts up in the neck and it goes down into the shoulders. so
that can really cause a lot of neck pain. today I'm going to use a stretch strap
to stretch it out. you don't have to use the stretch strap, but if you have one
you can get a really good extra stretch with it. so I'm gonna take the strap, I
like to put a little loop for the back part if I'm putting it back here because
then I can just kind of hold on to it like that. again you don't have to if
you're if you feel like your hands are good and you can hold on to it, that's
fine. so I'm gonna stretch at this side. and so what I want to do with the strap,
is I want to get it pretty close into the neck area right there. that's kind of
right over that upper trap. and so I'm gonna pull down with my front hand, and
with the back hand I'm gonna kind of pull it back. so if you can see I'm
moving that muscle back there to get that stretch in there, and that's just
gonna kind of help hold that muscle down a little bit. so kind of pulling down
getting a little pull in there to get that stretch. and to get an even better
way to do it is first turn in this way, and get that pull in there and then
you're gonna go away from it to get that stretch. so while you're holding that
pressure down, you're leaning away and so some people are a little more tight in
their upper strap, upper trap if they turn their head down. so I'm feeling a
lot of stretch there and some get it a little bit more turning their head up. so
mine's a little bit more going downwards, so I'm just going to kind of hold that
stretch there and this is going to be a full 30 second stretch. so you really
want to try and get that 30 seconds in there. if you're feeling too much pain,
you're probably pushing down too hard or trying to stretch too hard.
you really want to try and get that 30 seconds in, and then you're going to do
that three times. so again I'll just do it really quickly on the other side too so
you so you can see. you get that strap really close, and then you're pulling and
getting that little bit of twist in there. if you want to start this way to
get that little bit better pull and twist and then turn your head away if
you're already feeling good stretch there, that's fine. if you want to try
turning your head up to get the stretch you can. if you're not feeling much there
like me, then kind of turn it down and then you're gonna get that nice extra
stretch in there. so again holding that 30 seconds. I like to alternate back and
forth just to give each side a little bit of break, but since you have the strap if
you want to them all on one side you can. and if you want to do them all on the other
side you can. but again, holding it there very nicely. so I'm gonna take a
second to get my thumbnail smile shot, so there you go, if you want to take it too
you can. alright, so the next one is going to be for the levator scapulae stretch.
and so again this levator scapulae muscle is one of those that causes a lot
of neck pain because it holds a lot of our stress. it's the one that elevates
or lifts up our shoulder blades. so a lot of times if we're stressed, we're working
at the computer a lot, if we're playing games, or we're just bored and sitting
there a lot, will kind of start going up like this, and that over works that
levator scapulae muscles. so you really want to get that one stretched out. so a
great way to stretch it out, the side that I want to stretch, I'm going to take
my hand and kind of put it behind my shoulder there. and that's just to push
that scapula or that shoulder blade down trying to get my elbow up towards the
ceiling as high as I can. now I know for some people if you have shoulder issues
this is going to be hard, so you can just put your hand behind your back if you
want to. but this is the way I learned it and I feel like I get a really good
stretch with that. so you're just going to bring the elbow up, and then you're
gonna take your head and turn it away at about a 45 degree angle. so it's not
completely 90 degrees. it's not in the front, it's kind of at an angle almost
like your chin and your nose are pointing towards the opposite knee. and
then you're gonna put your hand behind your head and just kind of tuck in.
looks like you're looking down into your armpit and that that nose is going down
towards that opposite knee there. and again this is a full 30 second stretch.
so you're holding that 30 seconds. if you feel like you're getting a lot of pain
either take some pressure off of it, maybe bring the arm down, maybe not use
the other arm at all, and just feel tension. you don't want to feel pain
while you're doing that stretch. so again then the other side elbow up, hand behind
the head, and then pulling down towards that knee kind of like you're trying to
touch your nose into your armpit there. and then again if you want to alternate
back and forth you can, or if you want to do them all on one side you can do that
too, but 30 seconds 3 on each side. and with neck pain generally sometimes
people ask "should I just stretch the side that hurts?"
since the neck muscles are so connected into that cervical spine, if you have
time I would stretch both sides even if one side is the painful side because a
lot of times then the other side is getting overworked, so it really needs
some help too. so I would really do both sides if you can. so then the next
one is going to be just a simple chin tuck. and so chin tucks I'm gonna do a
couple of different ways just because I really like chin tucks. they help kind of
reset those neck muscles. and so if you're having that neck pain, a lot of
times is because you've got that forward head posture. so you want to reset those
muscles. you want to make sure that you're taking the pressure off of them.
and so chin tucks are are a really nice way to do that. so you you if you've
watched my videos you know that I talked about tucking your chin back and in, not
down. but what I'm going to add extra on to this one is what I would say settling
in your chin. and all this does is it helps when you do your chin tuck that
your Chin's not up and it's not down you're just kind of settling in that
chin. so straighten up your neck get your neck as tall as you can and just kind of
settle that chin. and that's that's what I mean, that you're kind of, so you're not
slouch down doing it, you're almost trying to extend that neck up towards
the ceiling and then settle your chin in. so it's in that level position and then
you're tucking it in. so the motion that you're doing
is bringing your whole head and neck back behind you. so if you know if you
have a wall sometimes that's a good give yourself a target in there. so I'm going
to turn just a little bit so you can see. I'm settling in that chin and then I'm
bringing it back. so you get a whole lot of little Chin's right there. and just
hold it for about three to five seconds. you don't have to hold it for a very
long time and then relax it. maybe do three to five of those. sometimes if
you've seen in my videos I like using your finger as a target just so you can
see the difference because sometimes people have a really hard time figuring
out the chin tuck to start off with, that you're actually moving it back and away.
so if you have your fingers started here where your chin is, leave the finger in
the same spot. settle everything in and then pull back. so you can see you know
there's a little bit of a difference and a lot of times then after you relax
there's some space in between. it might be larger space for some people a little
space for other, but that just showing that it is kind of resetting everything.
so that's just a nice way to do it. so then the next one is going to be a chin
tuck adding in a shoulder squeeze or a scapular squeeze. so you're still kind of
getting in that position and you're kind of settling in that chin. lengthening
that neck, going into your chin tuck, and while you're holding that chin tuck
you're just going to squeeze your shoulder blades together. so you're kind
of getting that combination move now to open up the chest. if you have neck pain,
all those muscles come down they're all connected. chest muscles come up into the
neck, into the shoulder, so it's really all connected. so when you're doing a
shoulder squeeze, or a scapular squeeze, you're not just using your elbows to
bring them back, you're using those muscles in between those shoulder blades
to squeeze them in towards your spine. So almost imagine that someone has their
hand there, or get someone in your house to put their hand on your spine, and
you're trying to squeeze their hand with your shoulder blade .so when you're
squeezing back, don't bring those shoulders up. try and keep your shoulders
down. so it's not coming up like this, it's squeezing back and then you're
combining that chin tuck. so I like to start the chin tuck first because it's a
couple extra steps. so lengthen the neck, settle the chin, tuck in, and then squeeze
back. if you can keep the chin tuck, and you know you can keep it
with good technique, try and keep the chin tuck the whole time. so you're
coming in, tucking it in, and holding maybe two to three seconds coming back.
doing a couple of these. if you feel like you can't keep the chin tuck, that's okay.
reset every single time. but the goal is eventually to be able to hold that chin
tuck so you're getting that strengthening in there as well. so
then the last one with the chin tuck is gonna be a chin tuck and then you're
actually going to tuck your chin downwards like it sounds, like a chin
tuck. and that helps activate those deep neck flexors muscles inside your neck
there. and a lot of times those don't get worked very much because you're always
using the larger outer ones. so these are those deep flexor muscles. and the way to
do that is again going into that chin tuck, tucking in, and then bringing your
chin down towards your chest. so you can see it's not a big movement, but this
again is getting those deeper flexor muscles that you don't always get. so
again kind of lifting up that neck, settling in the chin, tuck it in, and then
bring it down. and I can feel it in the back of my neck and the front of my neck,
those muscles working. so when I go into that bend, I'm getting the back one
stretching, and then I'm working the front ones. so again if this is something
that you haven't done, or if you haven't ever done, just do maybe three to five
to start off with. do a little hold in between because even though it might not
feel like you're doing a lot in the beginning, you're working muscles that
you haven't worked before, so don't go go wild with them and do a whole lot. just
maybe three to five to start off with a couple times a day, and then you can
slowly work your way up from there. so there you have it. those were some of my
favorite neck pain stretches and exercises that made mister bear so relaxed
he can barely keep his eyes open. if you'd like to help support my channel, make
sure and click on the link over there. and don't forget to subscribe where mr.
bear? down there. and remember, be safe, have fun, and I hope you feel better soon.