Say goodbye to your stiff neck 

A sore, stiff neck is indicative of modern lifestyles that ask us to sit too much, move too little and all but sacrifice our spinal health for the sake of our jobs. Your head is the heaviest structure in the body which poses a challenge, especially to the cervical vertebrae, by sitting right at the top of the spine. Many of us then add poor posture into the mix by craning our heads forward to look at our computer and phone screens, unwittingly magnifying the weight of our heads and associated downward pressure on the spine. It’s no wonder that so many of us leave work at the end of the day with neck pain. This week, we have one simple exercise that helps to roll back this compressive effect on the cervical vertebrae and allows for an uptick in circulation in the neck which stimulates healing. 

Decompress your neck daily

Our goal is to make this stretch the first thing you do when you reach home after clocking off for the day. This is an incremental stretching program that starts with: 

• Sitting and relaxing your shoulders by rolling them up and down slowly
• Now gently turn your neck side to side so that you are looking over each shoulder
• These two movements reduce tension and warm up your neck for the stretch that follows 
• Now grab a foam roller 
• Lie supine and put the foam at the base of your skull
• Now perform the same motion as before-gently turning your head to the left and right- but feel the added decompression that the foam roller offers.

There is perhaps nothing better you can do for your spinal health than daily stretching. For people concerned about back pain, stretches that focus on decompression and spinal elongation should be a primary priority. The fact is, our spines are always being compressed and the only defense they have are motions that promote spinal elongation. If you are interested in discovering more ways to take care of your spine on a daily basis, give our office in Westwood a call to schedule an appointment today.