How To Treat And Cure Stiff Neck Or Shoulder To Ease The Pain

You can treat and cure a stiff neck, frozen shoulders and upper back ache, even headaches and migraine by being aware of your posture. There is no such thing as a short neck. We all possess 7 cervical vertebrae. A short neck is merely curved too deeply. The neck supports the head and it is therefore obvious that if the head is carried too far in front of the body instead of above it, where it belongs, the muscles at the back of the neck are doing unnecessary overtime. Permanently tense and raised shoulders, poor sleeping habits, stress, or cold drafts also contribute to neck and shoulder pain.

This is the latest in the Easy Fitness Series of articles which began at the base, the foundation of the body, the feet, and works its way up through the ankles, knees, pelvis, waist, and the torso. To follow the upward progression in body awareness, in this last article on the shoulders and neck, we explore the shoulder area first to create a strong base which can correctly support the neck and head.

The main muscles that work the shoulder are the trapezius, the pectoralis (pecs) and the latissimus dorsi (lats) muscles. Their job is to move the arm. Muscles work in a chain reaction fashion. When the arm rotates inward, it takes the shoulder with it. As this happens, the muscles at the front of the shoulder tighten, while the muscles of the upper back become overstretched and weak. This results in:
• kyphosis with forward head posture
• tight muscles in the front of the shoulder
• weak muscles in the upper back
. Anyone who works for long hours at a desk is prone to this imbalance.

Correct Position of the Shoulder Joint

While the pecs and the lats are primarily movers of the arm, the rhomboids at the back provide stability to the shoulder joint. As the pecs and lats work to rotate the arm inward the rhomboids in the upper back become weak. This causes the shoulder joint to go too far forward, out of its neutral alignment, beyond its range of safety. This can be avoided by strengthening the upper back, using the rhomboids. Get off your chair for a minute and do the following shoulder alignment move to feel the rhomboid muscles putting your shoulders back into their correct place.

1. Stand up with the arms hanging loose by your sides, like the sleeves of an empty coat.
2. Rotate the wrists outward as far as possible.
3. Release the rotation in the lower arm (turn your palms in towards your thighs from the elbow) BUT...
4. Keep the shoulders and upper arm in the same place as in 2. Above.

You should feel a widening and flattening of the area immediately in front of your shoulder, allowing the shoulder joint to be placed at the side of your body rather than in front of it. That is where your shoulder likes to live most comfortably.

Raised shoulders cause the curve in the back of the neck to be too deep. As you can see from the red line of gravity, the head is carried too far in front of the body. This puts unnecessary strain on the muscles of the neck. A shortened neck often causes head aches and migraine. A double chin also often appears when the head is not carried above the spine. Firstly loosen the shoulders with the Arm Swings and Circles moves, then proceed to the neck exercises in the following section.

1. Stand in a stable lunge position, the left foot in front and the right foot behind with the front leg bent and both heels on the floor.
2. Swing the right arm up as far as you can until you feel the limit in the shoulder joint.

3. Swing the arm down and back, again as far as you can feel it stop in its joint.

Breathe in on the uplift and out on the down swing. Use momentum rather than force, allow the arm to drop as it goes down. Do about eight or more swings while increasing speed and momentum until you are sure that all the little crackely noises (stiffness) have gone from your shoulder joint.

Reverse the position of the feet and repeat with the left arm.

Stand in the same position as in the previous sequence and now make continuous backward circles with your arm. Again, breathing in as you go up and breathing out as you go down. Begin slowly and increase the speed of the movement until your arm wants to circle quite fast to throw off all the tension; until you feel a tingling in your fingertips. If you look at your hand, it is quite red, full of blood.  When you finish, hold the arm above the head and shake the hand to allow all the blood to flow back down again.

Change the position of your feet and repeat on the other side.

Note: Welcome any clicking or crunching noises in your shoulder as long as it doesn't hurt. Your Arm Swings and Circles are oiling your rusty joints. After a few repetitions those noises soon vanish.

Get the photo album and find a picture of yourself in profile. Sorry but if you hold your neck in this position, you are in real trouble. Muscles turn into spasm and cause neck and shoulder tension, headaches and migraine. A partly self-strangulated neck cuts off regular blood supply to the brain. Help!

Often we suddenly look up from this position, thereby increasing the over-curvature of the cervical vertebrae even more and begin to look like a vulture.

If your neck is over-curved you are in serious need of some Gentle Traction before you can even start to attempt lengthening your neck. A horizontally used neck traction device helps to re-establish the natural curve and alignment of the neck by gentle traction. The neck traction device cradles the head and neck on two soft foam cushions. An air-inflated bellows is capable of providing up to 35 lb. of continuously adjustable traction. As the bellows expands, it lifts the head upward supporting the cervical curve and maintains an even distraction in the anterior and posterior cervical discs.

Anatomically the skull is supported by the Atlas (the top cervical vertebra) centrally somewhere between the ears, in line with the central line of gravity. Then, when you look up, keep your neck long as shown here. Doesn't that look much better?

These moves allow the neck to move in the three planes of motion, round the sagittal, transverse, and frontal axes which I prefer to call 'yes', 'no', and 'maybe'.

Caution before attempting neck exercises you must establish the severity of your pain by consulting a physician or movement therapist.

Yes

1. In the downward movement of the "yes" sequence aim to touch your breast bone with your chin. If the back of your neck is completely free of tension your chin should touch your breastbone when you look down - with your mouth closed (don't cheat!).
2. On the upward movement of the "yes" sequence keep your chin back and your xplained earlier.

Slowly repeat 1. and 2. for as long as the little noises inside your neck dissappear.

Caution if you suffer from a posterior disc bulge avoid going too far down on this move as it would only increase the damage.

No

On the "No" sequence, keep the head central above the spine (between your shoulders. Try to see as far back behind you as you can on each lateral rotation but don't lift up your nose.Slowly repeat looking to the left and right for as long as the little noises inside your neck dissappear.

Maybe

1. On the "Maybe" sequence, drop your ear down towards the shoulder while keeping your head in its centrally balanced position and your nose facing the front.

Gently repeat each move eight times or more until all the little crunching noises in your neck have stopped.

Slowly roll the head around clockwise to see how much of your entire periphery you can see. Or, pretend a butterfly is flying around your head and try to follow it with your eyes. After about the third circle you will notice that you can see a little further. There may still be some little noises going on in your neck. They will eventually disappear. When you've done about four or five rolls, repeat them anti-clockwise. For best results head rolls can be done in a warm bath under water where your head is virtually weightless.

An easy way to relieve neck/upper back pain at the office is to use a reading stand where you can place papers and bring them up to eye level by holding them vertically. This reduces the strain on the neck by keeping your head in a more upright position instead of holding it forward and down, which causes the neck extensors to be under a lot of stress. You will feel the difference at the end of the working day.

Certain sleeping conditions can give you a stiff neck. Make sure you don’t sleep in a cold draft as this will cause your neck muscles to contract during sleep.  Avoid pillows that take the neck out  of its neutral alignment. In this picture the neck is vulnerable to strain and cramp. Your pillow should be firm and no thicker than the space needed for your head to lie flat on its ear without curving up the other side of the neck.

This video by Juliette Kando is, as it says in the introduction, only for people with good necks who want their necks to stay that way well into old age.

Huhh, sorry but what's a "good neck"?

A good neck allows the body to lie supine on the floor comfortably without a pillow.

1. Re-align your shoulders so they are at the side of your body and not in front.
2. Retract the head so it sits above the spine (between the shoulders) and not in front of it.
3. Keep the chin down.
4. Perform the “yes, no and maybe” exercise at least once a day or whenever you feel stiff in the neck.
5. Perform the slow head rolls at least once a day or whenever you feel stiff in the neck. Don’t wait until your neck hurts so much you don’t want to move it.
6. Check your sleeping habits and use of pillows as described above.
7. If you have a good strong neck try the HeadWalk exercise in Juliette Kando's video.

I hope this article on How To Treat And Cure A Stiff Neck To Ease The Pain has given you some useful insight and tips on how to prevent having a stiff neck and will help to ameliorate your posture and your looks all at the same time. Follow the comment thread for solutions to live case studies similar to yours.

SUE ADAMS

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