Safe and Effective Neck Stretching Technique

The next one here is an oldie, but goodie. And for any of you patients or people who have seen our old video, this is from our old video. And it really is one of my favorite stretches for the neck. It’s very important though, that it’s done slow. And you don’t, if it’s not done properly, it can really irritate the neck. Almost anyone can do it. Very, very good for whiplash patients, anything like that. But the, our demonstration, you just have to do it slow in the stretch because of the neck.

Neck Stretch Demonstration

So, like Dr. Neil said, there’s a few steps involved in this. But it’s not one of our advanced athletes stretches. So once you learn it, it’s actually pretty easy. So, just hit the rewind a couple of times or shoot into the office and we’ll demonstrate. Ee’re actually going to do four different movements. And on each movement, we’re going to sit on the hand that we’re stretching, or on the side that we’re stretching. So right now, we’re going to stretch the right side.

Jane’s going to sit. And I sit palm up on it. What that’s going to do is lock in the shoulder. So, we’re now going to do two stretches, and both times will be on this side. She’s going to use her hands on the other side to do the stretch. We’re going to look towards, and then look away. So first, we’re going to look towards, and then, the stretch is, on every single one of these, the line is from shoulder to shoulder, so make sure you’re not stretching forward or backwards. You just want to go shoulder to shoulder, and you’re going to use this hand. You’re not just going to bring your neck over.

And it’s a stretch.

It’s not a heavy, quick pull, which is important. A lot of people will pull too fast, so it’s a stretch on that.

So using this hand, she’s just going to pull right there, and right there. I can actually feel, we’re starting to hit right in the back of the trap area. And the reason for sitting on this arm: if she didn’t sit on this arm, as she pulled nothing would be holding this down. So you really want to be sitting on the side that you’re stretching. Then you’re going to sit again. Turn towards. Use this arm. And the line is straight shoulder to shoulder. We’re not going down or back. So first, look towards, stretch, and then, you’re going to look away. So look all the way away, and then stretch, and you’re gonna feel a total different muscle getting stretched here. Now that’s two.

Mistakes Made in the Neck Stretch

The other two are just on the other side, so let’s demonstrate. Go ahead and sit on that side, palm down. So, you’re going to look towards, and using this arm, we’re going to bring straight this way. One mistake I see people make is they might, like what she’s doing, and grabbing the top of the head. Don’t be too embarrassed. Just grabbing your entire head, give it a good stretch. And then, you’re going to look away. Then, go ahead grab all the way down. And make sure you’re not bringing it down this way. You’re just going straight side to side. So it’s just sitting on the side you’re stretching towards. Stretch, away, stretch the other side, towards, stretch, away, stretch. So there’s a few steps. But it’s actually pretty simple once you get it down.

And it’s a lot more effective than, a lot of offices will recommend. Something like just pulling like this. As you can see, my arm’s coming up, and I’m only stretching. That lock-in is important. And the turning her head towards in a way that’s going to really isolate the track versus the SCM musculature.

Thanks for watching our neck stretch technique video. Hopefully you apply what you learned! For any more questions or if you still have neck pain, please Contact Us Here. Or call us at 215-343-3223.