Are you sitting or driving all day? A few hours into your day, does your neck start to hurt or tense up? Optimally, you would see a massage therapist to give you the very best in neck pain relief. But unfortunately, you probably don’t have a massage therapist on call to run and give you a massage every time you have pain. Well, here are a few stretches that can bring some relief. I have given these stretches to many of my Seattle massage clients and they work wonders.
1. Front Neck/Chest Pin and Stretch
The image below illustrates how to do this stretch. Pressing on the center of the chest with your hands and tilting your head back gently, give the front of your neck and upper chest a nice stretch. Breathe and hold stretch for at least 20 seconds.
2. Side Neck/Chest Pin and Stretch
This stretch is very similar to the previous stretch. Pressing on the upper left side of your chest and tilting your head back and angled to the opposite side will give the front sides of your neck and chest a nice stretch. Again, breathe and hold stretch for at least 20 seconds. Remember to also stretch the right side.
3. Side neck stretch
Put your feet flat on the floor, grab the underside of your chair seat, and slowly tilt your head to the side. Breathe and hold stretch for at least 20 seconds. Again, remember to stretch both sides.
For the best results I recommend doing these stretches once or twice a day. If you are having a hard time doing them twice a day, at least do them when you feel pain. Thank you for reading, PJ Harris, LMP. http://www.pjharris.com/
