Got Neck Pain? Try This Stretch for INSTANT Pain Relief!

Hey everybody, it's Doctor Jo and super pain relieving Remy. And today I'm going to show you my favorite neck pain stretch. So let's get started. So my favorite stretch for neck pain is the levator scapulae stretch. It's one of my favorite stretches, it's great for the neck, it's great for the shoulders, it's great if you have tension headaches, it's great to help improve your posture. So it's just a great stretch. A lot of my patients even call it the magic stretch. So we're going to do this in real time, each stretch is going to be a 30 second hold, and we're going to do three on each side. So make sure that if you want to follow along with me, that you're in a good comfortable seated position. I'm going to go ahead and start is going to give us a little 10 second buffer. I like to put my hand that's being stretched the side that's being stretched up here like this with my elbow pointed towards the ceiling. Take your other hand, put it kind of like a helmet over the back of your head, and pull down towards your opposite knee, almost like you're trying to tuck your nose into your armpit there. So it's not to the side, it's not straightforward, it's kind of at a 45 degree angle there getting that nice stretch. Kind of sit up tall if you can. And you should be feeling that stretch here on that levator scapulae that goes all the way up into the cervical spine, and attaches down into the onto the shoulder blade, or the scapula. That's why it's called that. This might be uncomfortable for some people. If that's too uncomfortable, you can also do the stretch behind your back, which I'll do for the next stretch. So get turning this way at that angle, head hand over behind your head, and pulling down like you're pulling your nose into that armpit. So what the the hand on the other side is doing is it's keeping that shoulder blade or that scapula down. And so that's just going to give you a better stretch. If this is uncomfortable too, you can just relax your hand down, but you'll get a little bit better stretch if you either put it behind your back or up here, because that's pushing that shoulder blade or that scapula down to be able to get that better stretch on that levator scapulae muscle. But again, if that's a little bit uncomfortable for your shoulder, for your neck area, you can just also have your hand relaxed down. So again, hand up and over like a helmet, that 45 degree angle, and then kind of tucking in, you should really feel that stretch again right through there. Nice stretch down at that shoulder blade. I'm still getting a great stretch even if my my other hand is just relaxed like this. But again, if I if I really stabilize that scapula or that shoulder blade by doing one of these positions, or even just kind of pushing my hand down, I'm going to feel a little bit stronger stretch. But just having your hand relaxed might be a great stretch for you. stretches should be comfortable, they shouldn't be painful, you should feel good tension in there. But it should never be painful, you should be able to do that 30 seconds pretty easily. So I'm going to go back up. This is the way I learned how to do it. So I feel like this gives me the best stretch in there. So this is my favorite stretch for neck pain. And like I said, for a lot of other areas in the upper body, but a lot of my patients, like I said, really like this stretch as well. But you know what works for them might not work for you. I have a lot of other stretches for the neck. And there's a lot of muscles that go into the neck and shoulder. So if this isn't great for you, there's a whole lot of other ones to try out as well. And so another thing with this to remember is, if you get a little bit of popping in your neck while you're doing it, I'm going to go back this way. As long as it's not painful, that's not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of times, you know, the popping can be, people will say a couple different things, you know, fluid moving around in the joint, a little bit of an adjustment, a lot of times people will argue what it is. But as long as it's not painful, a lot of times, it's just kind of working things out a little bit. But if the popping or that clicking is painful, make sure you're checking in with your doctor or your therapist, because it might be an indicator that something is going on that you really need to work out besides just tightness or some pain in the muscle or something. So again, with your hand, make sure it's comfortable. This one for me puts a little bit of pressure on my shoulder in the front there. But that's also a nice stretch as well for the shoulder as well as the neck. So again, maybe try all the positions, you know, down here, up here, back here, and whichever one works best for you, just stick with that one. You don't necessarily have to, you know, do each one or do it the way I do it. Do it the way that's the most comfortable and the best stretch for you. So there you have it. That was my favorite stretch to relieve neck pain. If you're interested in checking out some other neck pain stretches and exercises, check out the playlist up there. And remember, be safe, have fun, and I hope you feel better soon.