In this video, I'm going to show you how to quickly get rid
of pain at the base of the neck. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in St.
Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over a
very easy, effective three-part guide that's really going to
help give pain relief at the base of the neck. Each part
works a little bit differently but when you put them together,
you'll get the best results. So, go through all three parts,
take what is most effective for you. As a bonus, all of these
exercises can be done at home do not require any special
equipment and may give quick neck pain relief even in as
little as 30 seconds. So, let's get started and fix that pain at
the base of the neck right now. So, in the first part, we're
going to focus on a big instigator of pain at the base
of the neck which is tight muscles. Think muscle knots,
muscle spasms, trigger points, you name it. How we're going to
attack those is with a homemade peanut tool. I took two tennis
balls, put em in a large sock, twisted it, and then tight it.
Tennis balls are roughly a dollar a piece. So, if you have
neck pain, spend a couple dollars for a tool that will
pay dividends later on. We're going to do this one on the so
I'm going to start off on my back like this I'm going to
position the tennis ball right here where the tennis balls are
off to the side of the neck on the muscles and my spine is
going to be right over the groove it should just sit in
there nice and comfortably put it right at the base of the
skull to start off with let's do a simple motion in there to
do a self massage take your fingers right here put them on
the chin and just do up and down motion so we're going into
flexion and then extension with the neck when you do this the
ball is to glide over the muscles of the neck and it
usually feels really really good and you want to do this
one for about 10 to 15 seconds. Relax, take a breather, and
then repeat this up to five repetitions. From there, just
move the tennis balls down and repeat all the way down to the
base of the neck. When you do this, if you feel like one
certain spot needs more tension, you can throw some
more repetitions in but let's focus a little bit more on the
base of the neck. So, let's position that ball right there
at the base and from here, I'm going to put all of my weight
into my heels and then lift my butt up. It's kind of like a
bridge exercise. When you do this, what's going to happen is
all your body weight is going to come downwards like this and
be centered over the spot that you have that tennis ball
placed. It really puts a good amount of pressure in there so
you can control it by lowering and raising the butt. The more
that you raise up, the more intense that's going to get but
you want to hold this position for about 20 seconds. If it
feels good, you can hold it for longer. Grab a book, grab an
iPad, just take your off of it just like gravity and your body
weight do all of the hard work. From there, I just relax and
then repeat this three to five times and again, you can just
move the ball up and down over the back and the neck to target
different spots but let's focus a little bit more on a muscle
known as the upper trapezius and take this one to the next
level. So, let's position our tennis balls right over the
base of the neck. I'm going to get back into that bridge
exercise right here til I feel a very good amount of pressure.
From there, I'm going to take one arm, bend it at 90 degrees,
put it on the floor like this, and slide it all the way across
my back. You'll notice that up towards the shoulder into the
neck, it starts to get activated. That's that
trapezius muscle. From there, I'm going to take my hand,
place it on the side of the head, and take my ear towards
the other side shoulder and when you do this, a very deep
stretch happens into the shoulder, into the base of the
neck pretty much throughout the whole neck, it feels good and
you can get a sudden pop, crack, or release with this one
because that's gas is being release from the extra mobility
coming in. Don't try to force that crack. Just feel a very
good stretch. Hold this one for about 15 to 20 seconds. You're
just going to relax, take a breather. On the next
repetition, drive the arm over, try to take the ear over
towards the shoulder just to get again a better stretch. You
want to do that for three tofive repetitions on both
sides. In this part, we're going to focus on getting rid
of pain at the base of the neck by improving muscle tightness
and joint stiffness. This is what I'd like to call Dr.
Rowe's super neck exercise. It's a three-part exercise that's
going to hit different parts of the neck and hopefully will
lead to very quick neck pain relief. We're going to start
off in a chair to slide all the way towards an edge just like
this. Let's have very good upright posture too. In the
first part, we're going to do a self traction. That is a
pulling motion into the neck to hopefully reduce pressure and
again, lead to very quick neck pain relief. I'm going to do a
chin tuck that is taking my chin down towards my chest as
much as we can. As we do this, you're going to feel a happen
throughout the neck from the top all the way down to the
base of the neck but you really want to focus more on the base
of the neck with this one. Once we can't go any further, I'm
going to take my hands, place them on the back of the head
just like this. The movement from here is very easy. It's a
scooping motion. So, I'm taking my hands and scooping my head
forward and taking my chin down towards my chest for a very
deep passive stretch. This should not cause discomfort.
Once we hit a very great stretch at the base of the
neck, we want to hold this one for fifteen 20 seconds. From
there, we're just going to relax, take a breather, and
repeat this one up to five times. With each repetition,
stretch more into it. Challenge those muscles because it may
give more pain relief. In the second part, we're going to
focus a little bit more on turning the head rotation. So,
if you are having difficulty turning the head, say while
driving, this may help. Again, let's start with very good
upright posture. I'm going to turn my head to look over one
shoulder. Doesn't matter what side you start with because we
will do it on both. Goes far as you're able to go. You should
really start to feel it on the side of the neck. From there,
I'm going to take my chin, tuck it down towards my armpit right
here. Kind of like 45°. This is why this one is called the
armpit sniffer but once we hit a very comfortable stretch, I'm
going to take my hand, place it on the side of the head, and
then pull my chin towards the armpit just a little bit more.
This really opens up the side of the neck right here. You
want to hold this one for 15 to 20 seconds. You're just going
to relax and then on the next repetition, stretch into it.
Challenge those muscles. You can take this one to the next
level by doing a self massage with it. So, take your thumb on
the other side and start to massage any muscle knots,
muscle tightness, trigger points, you name it off to the
side right here. You can go up and down with it, side to side,
circular motions, just go over any soft tissue you want. Just
make sure not to go over the front of the neck and don't go
over the spine only off to the side right there but you want
to do that for three to five repetitions of in 15 to 20
seconds and then repeat on the other side. In the third part,
we're going to focus a little bit more on the upper trapezius
muscle which is a big instigator of pain at the base
of the neck. Let's start with very good upright posture in
our chair just like this. I'm going to take one arm just
drape it off to the side. It'll be pretty much straight right
here at the elbow. I'm going to shrug my shoulder up towards
the ear. When you do this, you're already going to feel
that muscle start to activate. This is how we're going to
stretch more at the base of the neck right here. Going to take my
hand on my other side, place it off to the side of the head and
I'm going to pull my ear towards the other side
shoulder. When you do this, it's really going to open up
the neck and then, once we hit a very comfortable stretch, I'm
going to lower that shrug shoulder down towards the floor
as much as we can. Almost like I'm trying to pick something up
off the floor. This can become a very deep intense stretch.
Only go to your comfort level and it is quite common to get a
sudden pop crack or release into the neck. That's again,
normal. It's just gas is being released from those joints.
Just don't to force it. You want to hold this one
comfortably for 15 to 20 seconds. From there, just relax
and then repeat by stretching more into it on the next
repetition. 3 to 5 times on both sides. So, here is a great
exercise known as the overhead shrug. It's going to target a
little bit more across the shoulders, upper back, into the
base of the neck. Let's start standing but you can do this
one seated also with very good upright posture. I'm going to
take my arms, straighten them at the elbow, put them roughly
shoulder width apart. Let's make fist also. The first
movement, pretty easy. I'm just going to take my fist and my
arms straight up overhead til they're straight up towards the
ceiling. When you do this, you're already going to feel a
lot activate in between the shoulder blades into the upper
back, shoulders, and the base of the neck. Really focus on
feeling it into the base of the neck. What we want to do from
here is shrug our shoulders and lift our fist up towards the
ceiling as much as we can. When you do this, it's going to
become a very intense stretch so only go to your comfort
level. You want to hold this one for about 10 to 15 seconds.
From there, you're just going to relax, take a breather, and
then repeat this one up to five times. With each repetition,
try to drive your fist up towards the ceiling a little
bit more, challenge those muscles. How we can take this
one to the next level is trying to incorporate a little bit
more rotation and neck motion into it. So, let's drive our
fist up towards the ceiling, shrug the shoulders, and then
turn our head in one certain direction as much as we can.
Again, you'll notice that it hits the base the neck just a
little bit differently hold this one again 10 to 15 seconds
relax and then just repeat it on the other side for five
complete repetitions on both sides you can also do a lateral
bend that is taking your ear towards your shoulder go
through different motions if you feel that one side just
offers a little bit more into the tight achy spot that you're
having at the base of the neck throw more repetitions in at
that point target the spots and movements that need it the most
so without a doubt if we want to get rid of pain at a base of
the neck, we have to strengthen everything in and around it and
also improve our posture. One of the easiest ways to do this
is with an exercise known as a prone retraction. It's best
done at the edge of a bed. I'm going to start off on my
stomach and then I'm going to position my upper body to the
point where the shoulders and head are going to be off. Let's
start by just doing a head retraction. Take two fingers,
draw the chin down towards the chest for a nice chin tuck and
then from there, I'm going to drive my head straight up
towards the ceiling as much as we can. You're going to compete
against gravity with this and you're really going to feel a
lot of muscles into the neck start to fire. Really focus on
trying to feel it throughout the neck even more so into the
base of the neck. From there, I'm going to take my hands,
place them on the backside of my head and then wing my elbows
up while I do this head retraction. It fires a lot into
the upper back into the neck. You want to try to hold this
one for five seconds. From there, you're just going to
relax, take a breather, and then on next repetition, try to
drive it up even more. Always challenge those muscles to get
stronger but you want to do this one for 10 to 15 complete
repetitions. If the exercises helped, please support the
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