Hey everybody, it's Doctor Jo. I've got another helper with me today. This is Molly, she'll
be observing and making sure I do everything correctly with good technique. So what we're
going to be talking about today is our neck stretches. Now the neck can be very tricky
and it can have serious, serious injuries to it, so it's key to go to your doctor or
your physical therapist and get a correct diagnosis and get imaging that you need. So
this is really just some gentle stretches to get you going if your neck is just stiff
or maybe you slept on it wrong. So the first thing we're gonna do is we're gonna start
off with some gentle stretches, not even using your hands but just with your neck. So the
first thing I'm gonna have you to do start off is just bring your chin down to your chest.
And then hold it just for about 5-10 seconds and then look back up towards the ceiling.
Same thing for just about 5-10 seconds. Now you want to make sure you're staying in a
plane front to back, that you're not turning your head. This is really in a straight plane.
Bringing that chin down to your chest and then bringing it back. Good. Now then the
next one what you want to do is you want to take your ear to the side. Now this is another
key, you just wanna gently bring it to the side. You don't want to bring your shoulder
up, your not actually touching your shoulder to your ear, your shoulder is staying in one
spot. You're just bringing it over, same thing now, it's in a plane this way. So you wanna
keep it in that plane you're gonna stretch about 5-10 seconds, and then your gonna come
back the other way. Stretch 5-10 seconds. Good. So you're gonna do that about 3-5 times
in each direction, good. And once that gets a little bit loosened up, now what you're
gonna do is you're gonna rotate a little bit. So you're just now gonna turn, almost like
you're looking over your shoulder. Same thing about 5-10 seconds and then turn back the
other way. Very good and then stretching it out. So those are just starting off with some
simple stretches without doing anything except moving your head and getting those stretches
in there. Front to back, side to side, turn to turn, Molly's embarrassing me, but that's
ok. So the next thing that we're gonna do is we're going to add some overpressure. Basically
what overpressure is is you just use your hand to give you a little more pressure added
to the stretch. So these stretches are actually going to be our traditional 30 second stretches,
3 times on each side. Now the key is for this one is you're gonna hold your hand underneath
your leg. Now the key for this is it's gonna keep your shoulder flat and it's gonna pull
down a little bit. so you're already getting a little bit of a stretch. What you're gonna
do now is your just gonna bring your hand on the top of your head, not on the top of
your head right here, but on the top towards the opposite way and your just gonna pull
over to the side. Straight over. You want it to go in that plane, you're trying to take
that ear to the opposite shoulder. And you're just gonna take some deep breaths, breathe
in and out, might fall asleep. And those 30 seconds, 3 times each on both sides. Make
sure you're doing both sides so you keep everything even. Alright, so then last one that I'm gonna
show you is our levator scapulae stretch, and that's the muscle that pulls your shoulder
blades up, that scapulae up. The key for that one is lot's of times people get hunched over
a lot, they're typing on the computer, and those muscles get really tight. ANd when those
muscles get tight, people tend to get tension headaches. So a really good way to stretch
that out is your gonna take the arm same side that it's hurting, and your gonna put it up
on your shoulder if you can. And then what you're gonna do is you're gonna take your
other hand and put it kind of on the back of your head. And you're gonna pull it towards
your opposite knee. So you're not pulling it straight down, your not pulling it to towards
the side, but towards your opposite knee. Almost like a 45 degree angle. So your gonna
hold it up as high as you can, and you're gonna pull your head down. A nice stretch,
remember those stretches don't want to be painful, you don't want to feel any pain in
your neck, but you wanna feel a nice stretch in there. 30 seconds, 3 times each. Make sure
you do both sides, you want to get everything stretched out. And that's just the simple
stretches for your neck. Just to get everything loosened up. And remember, you can trust me,
I'm a doctor.