This video, I'm going to show
you how to fix levator scapulae pain for good. Stay tuned. Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe
coming to you from SpineCare in Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this
video, we're going to focus on fixing a tight and achy levator
scapula muscle, a big instigator of upper back and
neck pain. When this muscle becomes strained and irritated,
you can get a lot of pain from the top of the shoulder blade
into the shoulder into the side of the neck. It usually comes
about from tightness and weakness in the muscle. So, to
make it in relief easy, I'm going to break the video up
into two separate parts. In the first we're going to focus on
stretching with a combination self massage to get quick pain
relief and the second part, we're going to focus on getting
rid of it for good by strengthening the muscle and
some more muscles to help support it. Both parts work
just a little bit differently but when you put them together,
you get the best of everything. So, go through em all and use
what gives you the most relief. As a bonus, all of the
exercises can be done at home require no special equipment
and you may find give quick pain relief even within 30
seconds. So, let's get started and fix that levator scapula
pain for good. So, in this part, we're going to focus on
getting quick pain relief by targeting muscle tightness.
That's muscle knots, spasms, and trigger points. This will
be a combination of stretching with a self massage to take it
to the next level. These are perfect to do throughout the
day anytime that you feel neck pain or headaches starting to
build. So, let's focus first on stretching and lengthening the
levator scapulae muscle with what is known as the armpit
sniffer. Whatever that you're having pain. Let's say it's
your right side. Turn your head in the opposite direction to
look over your shoulder as much as you can. When you can't go
any further, take your hand on the non-painful side, hook the
back of your head, passively pull your chin downward towards
your armpit. You'll feel a deep stretch forming from the top of
the shoulder blade into the shoulder into the side of the
neck. Hold this one comfortably for about 20 seconds. You're
just going to relax. On the next repetition, try to stretch
into it just a little bit more. I like to do this one three to
five times. If you would like to take this one to the next
level, you can turn it into an active stretch to hit the
muscle just a little bit differently. So, with this one,
let's get back into our stretch but straighten the arm on the
painful side and now scoop forward with your shoulder
blade. It's really important that we scoop with our shoulder
blade on this one. Reach across your body towards the floor.
You'll notice the muscle fire just a little bit differently.
Hold this one three to 5 seconds. You're just going to
relax and now what you're going to do is scoop the shoulder
blade backward and reach overhead in the opposite
direction. So, we went from our left and now we're scooping
backward towards our right. Hold for three to 5 seconds,
release it, and then try to repeat this 110 to 15 times in
both directions. From there, I like to build into my self
massage to really target muscle knots, spasms, trigger points
that might be causing our pain. For this one, we need to locate
the levator scapulae muscle which can be a little bit
tricky. So, where it is is right below our upper
trapezius, this big muscle on the top of the shoulder and it
kind of goes down right through here onto the top of the
shoulder blade. So, what I need to do is take my fingers and
just crawl down until I find the top of the shoulder blade.
If you're unable to find that, just raise and lower your
shoulder up and down like this. You'll start to notice the top
of that shoulder blade starts to come up and down and you're
able to locate it pretty easily. So, once you find it,
you want to hook in the muscle right above the of the shoulder
blade and if this muscle is strained and inflamed, you can
get a lot of referred pain that shoots up the side of the neck
even towards the eyes. So, press in there lightly not to
the point where it's causing a headache but now, you can do
that armpit sniffer stretch while massaging in there at the
same time and this usually feels really really good. So,
give that a try for about 15 to 20 seconds. Relax and if it
feels like it's helping out, you can definitely throw in
some more sets but I to move over different spots too
because any spot that you feel needs more tension you want to
spend some more time over that and really break up any
tightness because that usually will offer you more relief you
can also do the active stretch at the same time while doing
that so give that a try and see if it helps you out just a
little bit more but how I like to take the self massage to the
next level is by using a tennis ball and for this one I like it
because it hits a wider area and the tennis ball does all
the hard work for us so what I'm going to is place a tennis
ball right over that area of the elevator scapula go next to
a wall and then lean into it with our body weight press in
there where you're going to have a very good self massage
but again no headache from there let's build into our
armpit sniffer once we get a very deep stretch going put all
of your body weight onto your heels and do a slight squatting
motion so bend your knees and just roll your body up and down
that ball and it usually feels really really good so I'd like
to do this for about 15 to 20 just relax and then throw in a
couple more repetitions if it is helping. You can also
experiment by going side to side. You can do circular
motions. Any movement that you feel hits it just a little bit
better. You can also do that active stretch at the same time
but go through all of these motions if any of them feel
like they're helping you out just a little bit more. Throw
more repetitions in and I do recommend whatever you do on
one side to switch to the other to keep them both in balance.
So one of the best ways to get long-lasting levator scapulae
pain relief is by strengthening the muscle itself. Here's a
very easy strengthening exercise I call the levator scapulae raise. For this one, we just need a simple weight. You
can use a water bottle. You can use a milk jug with a handle.
If you do have dumbbells around the house, use those. They work
perfectly for this exercise. So, let's start off by getting
into position. You're going to start seated at the edge of a
chair with very good upright posture. Doesn't matter what
side you start with because we're going to do it on both
but grab your weights we need to do is start to fire the
muscle before we get into this exercise. So, I'm going to
focus on drawing my shoulder and shoulder blade forward or
anterior. Kinda think about scooping with your shoulder
blade forward until you start to feel the upper trapezius
right here start to fire and that levator scapula muscle
right below it. So, our focus on this exercise, top of the
shoulder and then towards the top of the shoulder blade. Once
we feel that, what I'm going to do is slowly raise my shoulder
upward towards the ceiling. You'll really feel that muscle
start to fire. If you don't, really experiment with
different angles of the shoulder until you start to
feel that muscle start to fire but you want to hold this one
for about five seconds. You're just going to relax and then
what you want to do on the next repetition is build into it
just a little bit more. Really focus on trying to shrug that
shoulder up as much as you can but I like to do this one for
about 10 to 15 repetitions and then from there, I just take a
breather and then repeat this for three to 5 sets. To make it
more challenging, just progress into using heavier weights and
again, whatever you do on one side, always switch to the
other to keep them both imbalance. So, here's a really
easy strengthening exercise that you can do daily that
doesn't require any equipment. This is known as the shrugging
lift off and it's going to target a lot of muscles in a
short amount of time including the upper trapezius and those
levator scapulae muscles. For this one, we just need a smooth
wall. Start off by facing the wall having your chest flush
against it for support. We're going to do a basic shrugging
motion. So, reach overhead with your arms as much as you can
and use your fingertips right here to crawl upward towards
the ceiling. When you can't go any further, really focus on
shrugging upwards as much as you can. You should feel a lot
of muscles firing in between the shoulder blades, the upper
back, and the shoulders and the neck. Hold this one comfortably
for 5 seconds. You're just going to relax. On the next
repetition, challenge yourself to shrug up even more. I try to
do this one for 10 repet If you want to make this one more
challenging, step away from the wall so you don't have the
support to do this or you can start to use weights like
dumbbells. The more weight that you use, the stronger those
muscles will get. So, really try to challenge yourself to
progress into using things like dumbbells during this exercise.
Let's build into the lift off portion to target a little bit
more muscles and hopefully get better results. So, let's get
back into our original position with our chest flush against
the wall. This time around, I'm going to reach upward as much
as I can When I can't go any further, I'm then going to lift
my arms and hands off the wall. So, I'm reaching backward as
much as I can. The key with this one is to pinch the
shoulder blades in the back and try to open up the chest as
much as you can. I feel a lot firing. I get a five-second
hold. You're just going to relax and then build into it
just a little bit more on the next repetition. Try to do this
one also for 10 complete times. From there, you can then
experiment with different positions of the arm to target
more muscles and take this one to the next level. So, again,
I'm going to get back into my original position with my chest
against the wall. This time around, I'm going to reach off
to my side. So, I'm kind of like creating a T with my arms.
We're going to then rotate our hands so our thumbs are
pointing away from us kind of like a hitchhiker sign and the
inner part of my hands right here are flush against that
wall. From there, I'm going to do the same thing. I'm just
going to lift my arms backward pinching my shoulder opening up
that chest as much as I can five second hold I'm just going
to relax and then repeat this one up to 10 times you can also
do a Y shape with your arms to again hit the muscles a little
bit differently so press into it as much as you can and then
lift off and you're really going to feel a lot firing in
the upper back with this one this is a good one to target in
between the shoulder blades too 5 second hold you're just going
to relax repeat that one up to 10 times go through all of
those motion If you feel like one is really targeting that
area of the trapezius and the levator scapulae a little bit
more, throw more repetitions in at that point or you can do
another set or two. If the exercises help, please support
the channel by giving this video a like and maybe
subscribing too. If you have any comments or questions,
please leave them below. I'll get back to you as soon as I
can. Thanks for watching.
