When you are experiencing pain or tightness in your neck, you will feel like you want to stretch your tight neck to alleviate the symptoms. Common information demonstrates a stretch where you pull on your head to get the stretch. Please don’t do this!
It is important to consider what is happening to all the structures being affected by the stretch technique when you stretch your tight neck. Not all structures benefit from stretching. Nerves tend not to like being stretched. If ligaments are lengthened through stretch, they can no longer do their job of stopping motion properly. When pulling on your head to stretch the muscles in your neck, you are also compressing structures on one side, and stretching structures, like the ligaments and nerves in your neck, on the other.
Instead of pulling from your head to get the stretch, consider stretching the muscles in your neck by pulling down on your shoulder instead. In this way, you will reduce the potentially negative effects of the stretch on the other structures in your neck that don’t want to be stretched.
Keep in mind that if stretching only offers you temporary relief, stretching may not be what you need. It may actually be making your neck problem worse. Stretching your muscles often feels good because of the temporary reflex relaxation in the muscle, giving you relief from the tight feeling you are struggling with. However, for example, if your neck muscles are tightening up in an attempt to give a really loose hypermobile neck some stability, then relaxing the muscles through stretching reduces the stability in your neck. If your neck struggles with extra motion, then the structures in your neck will undergo more shear and compression which can cause pain and damage to the cartilage, disks, and other structures in your neck. To protect these structures, your muscles will tighten up again to control the extra motion and add stability and the cycle continues. Better to spend time strengthening your muscles in your neck, work on good body mechanics, and correct your posture to help a loose neck feel better.
There are many other scenarios like this explaining why stretching may not be the best strategy for your neck. So if stretching your neck is not resolving the tight feeling you are trying to address, please give me a call! I’d love to help you find the cause of your neck tightness and help you treat it appropriately!
This post is intended for education and demonstration only and is not meant to take the place of guidance from your Primary Care Provider (PCP). Don’t use this post to avoid going to your PCP or to replace the advice they give you. Get clearance from YOUR PCP before using the information in this post. Use at your own risk.