5 Neck pain exercises for relief | Step by step treatment

Neck pain is a common physical problem, often caused by stress or a stiff neck. Also, poor posture, especially behind a computer, is a common cause of neck pain.

Fortunately, with our step by step treatment plan containing five neck pain exercises, you can find relief fast yourself.

I’ll explain the factors that contribute to your neck pain and how you can relieve them yourself.

It includes relieving stress and adjusting your posture behind your computer.

I explain every exercise by text, but also with a video so that you’ll know exactly how to perform it correctly.

Keep reading.

The most important thing you have to do is reduce the stress in your life or your body. The best way to do this is by starting to exercise. Regular exercise reduces the cortisol levels in your body. When you experience stress, your body produces this hormone to help you cope with the stress.

Another way to reduce stress is by taking a stress-reducing supplement.

Alongside reducing stress, you can apply this hot crème to reduce the tension in your neck muscles. It causes instant pain relief.

Together with reducing stress and the tension in your muscles, you should start with the exercises to improve your posture, mobility of your neck and strength of your neck muscles.

I’ll show you our step by step treatment plan right now.

The first exercise you have to perform helps to improve the mobility of your neck. When you move your neck around, your neck vertebrae glide into each other.

But sometimes this mechanism doesn’t work as it should. Making a sudden movement, sitting, or sleeping in a poor position can cause this to happen. That is how you get a stiff neck.

Because the joints don’t move as easy as they should, your neck muscles have to pull harder to move your neck. That’s where the pain comes from. The exercise below treats this primary aspect of neck pain.

Perform the exercise like this:

• Wrap a towel around your neck
• Take with your left hand the right side of the towel and with your right hand the left side
• Now lift the hand that is in front up until the towel is at the same height as your cheek
• Now pull with your arm and the towel your head in the full rotation to the side
• Repeat this ten times and then change to the opposite side by changing your hands
• Finally, grasp the towel normal and lift your arms and look up at the same time

You can also see how to perform the exercise in this video.

Perform the exercise at least twice a day. Rotate your head as far as you can. It’s okay when it hurts. That’s because you stretch the limit of your neck at this point. That way, you’ll improve mobility.

The purpose of the third exercise is to increase the endurance of your deep neck flexor muscles. These muscles are essential for maintaining a straight sitting posture by pulling your chin in.

Due to your forward head position, these muscles are often weak in people with neck pain.

You can perform the exercise like this:

• Lay down on your back
• Pull your chin in as far as you can and hold this position
• Now lift your head about 2 cm (1 inch) with your chin pulled in
• Hold this as long as you can
• Repeat this five times

You can also see how to perform the exercise in the picture.

When performing this exercise, you’ll notice that you can’t keep your chin pulled in. That’s when you failed the exercise and have to rest for the second repetition.

You should be able to hold the position about 15-20 seconds after training for a few weeks. In the beginning, some people can’t hold the position longer than 5 seconds. That’s no problem, just work your way up.

When the endurance and strength of your deep flexor muscles improve, sitting up straight for a long time will be much easier.

When you sit up straight, your head is in the same line as the rest of your body. That prevents gravity from pulling your head down. It reduces the tension on your neck muscles which reduces neck pain.

Having a proper desk setup is essential for a good sitting posture because you often sit at your desk most of the day when working. So make sure you work in a healthy environment.

Secondly, you have to sit up straight with your chin pulled in a little bit. It prevents forward head posture, which is a risk factor for neck pain.

You can see the difference in sitting position in the picture.

At first, this posture feels weird and uncomfortable but when you train it consistently, your body adjusts and it feels naturally eventually.

Try to train and control your posture as often as possible during the day.

The final neck pain exercises reduce the tension in your neck muscles. These are the muscles that run over your shoulder towards the back of your head. They are also the primary cause of tension headaches.

Sitting up straight and training these muscles reduces the overload already, but stretching them reduces the pain caused by these muscles even more.

You can perform the exercise like this:

• Place your hand on your head
• Pull your head sideways
• Also, rotate your head to the same side until you feel the maximum stretch
• Hold this position for 20 seconds
• Repeat three times on both sides

You can see how to perform the exercise in this video.

Repeat this exercise several times a day. You can’t do it too often.