hey everybody it's doctor jo and silly bear,
and today i'm going to show you five stretches for a stiff neck. so let's get started.
so the first stretch for stiff neck is going to be kind of a stretch exercise. if you've seen some of
my videos, a chin tuck is one of my favorites. it really stretches out those neck muscles,
but it also exercises them a little bit, so it's a nice one to start with especially because it
kind of resets those neck posture muscles. so with the chin tuck, it's not tucking down towards your
chest, it's actually taking your chin and tucking it in. so what i like to do sometimes starting off
just so you can really get a feel for tucking in that chin, is just place your finger on your chin.
and so all i'm going to do is just move my head back as a whole. try and keep your chin level. put
your finger on your chin and leave your finger in the same spot so you're moving away almost like if
i had something back here i'm trying to bring my head back to it. so you get a little bit of space
and then hold that tuck for about three to five seconds and then relax. and so if you have some
tight muscles, then sometimes you can see there's a little space in between, and so that's a really
nice way to do it. so you don't have to use your finger, you can also just tuck back and then
hold that. you can see you have a lot of little chins there. now if you have a stick stiff neck,
sometimes you're not going to get a lot of movement. you can see i get a lot of movement
because i do chin tucks all the time. it helps you know with your posture, it helps with that
neck pain. so i i'm doing chin tucks all the time. but even if you just start off with a little bit
of movement, that's okay. you don't want them to be painful. so if you're trying to force it back
and it hurts a lot, really don't try and force it back, just get that movement that you can.
so then the next stretch is going to be a upper trap stretch. a lot of times when you have that
stiff neck, those upper trap muscles just kind of tighten up, and then it's really hard to move,
and it's just you know really painful as well. so with the upper trap stretch, you can do a couple
different movements with your hand. i always like just kind of sitting on my hand if i'm stretching
this side because it helps keep that shoulder down, and that's what you want. you don't have
to do this part of it, but you're going to get a better stretch because it's keeping that shoulder
down. you're going to bring your other hand up and over almost where you get your fingers touching
that ear a little bit. the movement that you're doing is going completely over to the side,
so you're not really turning either way. you can do that for different stretches, but for this one
we're just going to bring the hand up, over to the ear, and just gently pull away to the other side.
and so you really should feel that stretch kind of in that upper trap area. you might feel it
down into your shoulder if your shoulders tight and then all the way up into here where that
that muscle comes all the way up. so this is going to be a full stretch where you're going
to hold it for 30 seconds. after you hold it for that 30 seconds, you can switch sides if
you want to. so again hand underneath down here, and then up and over, and get that nice stretch.
and i'm feeling it really good through here. usually my right side is a little bit tighter,
but getting that nice stretch where you don't want it to be painful, you want to be kind of
that hurt so good kind of feeling, but that you can really hold it for that 30 seconds.
ideally you want to do three on each side. if you're in a hurry and you can't get all three,
i would rather you hold the 30 seconds and maybe do one or two, but that 30 seconds is really when
that muscle lets go. so then the next one is going to be a levator scapulae stretch. and so that's
the one that's a little bit further back. it goes all the way up into the neck, that cervical spine
area, that attaches to those processes up there. and then it goes all the way down to the scapula
or that shoulder blade. so it elevates or lifts up those shoulder blades. and so when you're really
stressed out or everything's kind of stiff in there, you kind of hold everything up and it
tightens up that muscle. so again there's a couple ways you can place your hand to get this stretch.
i've always learned if i'm stretching this side i kind of put my elbow up towards the ceiling,
and then i'm pushing my hand down kind of on that shoulder blade. and again that just keeps that
shoulder blade down so you get a better stretch. so if you're really tight in your shoulder, or
if this is uncomfortable to do, you don't have to do that. you can still sit on it or you can kind
of place it behind your head, but i this is the way i learned, this is the way i like to do it.
i feel like i'm getting the best stretch because i'm really pushing that shoulder blade down. now
this time you're going to bring your hand kind of from the front up and over your head. so it's not
the side like the other one. It is up and over. i'm kind of grabbing the back of my head, and now
i'm going to go at about a 45 degree angle so you can kind of go towards your opposite knee. nose
towards the opposite knee. or imagine that you're tucking that nose into your armpit. so i'm up and
over. i'm really trying to get that elbow on the other side as high as i can, and then i'm pulling
down at an angle and i'm feeling that stretch all the way here, all the way down into that shoulder
blade. so again this one is that 30 second hold. getting that nice stretch in there, coming back up
after that 30 seconds, then switching sides. so elbow up on this way, turning that head so it's
at an angle. it's not straight down, it's not over to the side, it's kind of that halfway in between
where i'm almost tucking my nose into my armpit right there or trying to touch the shoulder. and
again holding that 30 seconds. and if you can, do three on each side. so then the next one is going
to be for the scalene muscles or the anterior scalene muscles because we've got different groups
of them and those are the ones that kind of come up in here. and so they can really cause a stiff
neck as well because if they're tight and pulling up, that's just going to cause a lot of pain and
stiffness in the neck. so again there's a couple variations to this one, but i'm just going to
show you the one that i like to do the best. so if i'm stretching this side over here, i'm going to
take my other hand and just kind of place it on my collarbone or that clavicle bone right there. just
to do a gentle pull down. again this just kind of stabilizes everything to get a better stretch. and
then i'm gonna slightly turn away and then bring my ear up towards the ceiling. so i'm getting that
stretch all the way through there. now some people turn their head the other way and look this way.
you can do either one. it's just going to stretch those different fibers a little bit, but you're
still getting that anterior scalene stretch. i can look this way towards the same shoulder, or i can
kind of turn my head away and look up. so maybe try both and see which one gets the best stretch
for you. and then again switching sides after that 30 seconds. turn, bringing that ear up this way
almost like you're just gazing over towards the side, or you can then bring your head away this
way and get that stretch. so you can kind of do either one like i said, whichever one feels
the best for you. and so then the last stretch is going to be a rotation of your upper back or your
thoracic area, opposite way of your neck. and so the way i like to do that is just kind of cross
my arms over my chest area, and so i'm going to turn my neck this way to get this stretch,
and then i'm going to turn my upper body or that thoracic area in the other direction just to get
a really nice stretch in there. take some nice deep breaths while you're stretching, you know
really get that breath in let it out. when i do this one, i like to breathe through my chest,
but you can also do diaphragmatic breathing as well, and then just opposite way. i'm turning
this way and then rotating that opposite way to get that nice 30 second stretch.
again doing three on each side if you have time. so there you have it,
those are five stretches for a stiff neck. if you'd like to help support my channel,
make sure and click on the link up there. yeah that's right bear. and don't forget to
subscribe by clicking down there. and remember be safe, have fun, and i hope you feel better soon.