In this video, I'm going to
show you how to insulate relieve neck and shoulder pain.
Stay tuned. Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe
coming to you from SpineCare in St. Joseph, Michigan. So, when
it comes to neck and shoulder pain, a big overlooked cause is
due to a blend of weakness and tightness in the muscles that
help support the area. This includes the levator scapulae
and the upper trapezius. To make any relief easy, I'm going
to break the video up into two separate parts. In the first
part, we're going to focus on getting quick relief by
lengthening these tight muscles. In the second part,
we're going to focus on strengthening them for long
last relief. Both parts work just a little bit differently.
To get the best results, go through them all, use what
gives you the most relief. With that being said, let's get
started. Here's a couple muscle releases that are going to
target the main muscle that tends to cause the most amount
of neck and shoulder pain. This would be the upper trapezius,
that big muscle on the top of the upper back that runs into
the shoulder into the side of the neck. Great part about
these exercises, you can do them seated or standing. Just
start with very good upright posture. Have your back a
straight possible. The first one is really easy to do.
You're just going to straighten your arms out in front of you
and then kind of have your hands in a clapping position
and then just interlock your fingers. What you want to do is
slowly push your hands away from you as much as you can
until you feel a light, gentle stretch in the upper back in
between the shoulder blades. It should almost feel like the
shoulder blades are starting to separate and you get that
really deep stretch in between them. Once you feel that, you
want to further this by focusing on moving through your
shoulder blade and just trying to round them forward to get as
deep of a stretch as possible. Once you feel that, you're
going to hold this and now slowly slump forward. That is
taking your chin and just bringing it downward towards
your chest as much as you can. At this point, you should feel
that stretch work upward into the neck and it usually feels
really really good. So, if you don't feel it going into the
neck, just keep rounding your shoulders forward bringing your
chin down towards your chest but once you do feel that
stretch, just hold this one comfortably for about five sec
relax and then repeat this about 5 to 10 times and with
each repetition just try to build into it a little bit more
so the next muscle release is going to be the classic upper
trapezius stretch this one's going to target a little bit
more towards the top of the shoulder into the side of the
neck so again let's start with very good upright posture
whatever side that you're having the most amount of pain
or discomfort like let's say it's your right side take the
arm on the painful side bend your elbow at 90degrees and
then just slide your arm across your lower back as much as you
can until you feel a gentle stretch right here on the top
of the shoulder. Once you feel that, you're going to hold this
and then take the hand on the other side, hook the side of
your head, and then slowly pull your ear towards the other side
shoulder. Do this one slowly because you're going to feel a
great stretch that works into the side of the neck and it
usually feels amazing. Try to hold this one comfortably for
about 20 to 30 seconds. Relax and then repeat this a couple
more times. If you would like to take this one to the next
level and get a deeper stretch, what you do is just pull your
ear towards your shoulder and then you're going to hold that
position and then slowly look upward towards the ceiling. So,
I'm kind of turning my head and chin upward towards the ceiling
but do this one slowly because you're really going to feel
that upper trapezius start to grab. Again, hold this one for
about 20 to 30 seconds. Relax, repeat this a couple more times
and I do recommend doing this on both sides even if the other
side doesn't hurt just to help keep everything in balance. This next
muscle release is going to target the levator scapulae
which tends to cause a lot of pain from the top of the
shoulder blade into the shoulders into the side of the
neck. We call this exercise the armpit sniffer for good reason.
You can do it standing or seated. Whatever side that
you're having the most amount of pain. Let's say it's your
right side. What you're going to do is slowly turn your head
in the opposite direction to look over the other side
shoulder until you feel a light, gentle stretch right
here in the side of the neck. Once you feel that, you're
going to hold this, take the hand on the other side, hook
the back of your head. Now, slowly pull your chin towards
the other side's armpit. As you do this, you're going to feel a
deep stretch form from the top of the shoulder blade that
works into the side of the neck and it usually feels really
good. You just want to hold this one comfortably for about
20 to 30 seconds. Relax and then repeat this a couple more
times and with each repetition, try to build into it just a
little bit more. So, if you would like to take this one to
the next level you can turn this one into an active
stretch. So, let's get back into our original stretch just
like this. Take the hand on the other side, straighten it, and
then just reach downward towards the floor. So, I'm just
kind of reaching across my body and then just taking my hand
and acting like I'm trying to pick something up off the
floor. You're going to notice it hits the muscle just a
little bit differently. Hold this for about three to 5
seconds and then go in the opposite direction. So, we're
going to sweep that arm across our body again but this time
around, we're going to reach upward towards the sky Again,
it hits the muscle just a little bit differently. I like
to do this for about three to five times in both directions
and then from there, relax. If it feels like it's helping out,
you're more than welcome to throw in another set or two and
I do recommend doing this on both sides just to help keep
everything imbalanced. So, let's go over a couple
exercises that are going to focus more on strengthening
these muscles. Simply put, if you want long-lasting muscle
pain relief, you have to make them stronger. First one is
called the lift off and all you need is a wall so to get into
position we're going to get really close to the wall make
fist like this have our thumbs pointed away just place your
fist right on the wall and then just press them up towards the
ceiling as much as you can so what you want to do is focus on
shrugging and lifting your shoulders up until you feel a
really good activation of the muscles in the shoulders into
the neck this would include the upper trapezius once you feel
this you're going to hold it and then lift your hands
backwards. So, take your fist and just press your thumbs
backward like this as much as you can. When you do this too,
you're going to feel a really good activation of the muscles
in between the shoulder blades. So, focus on trying to lift
your hands back and try to pinch those shoulder blades as
much as you can. Hold this comfortably for about three to
five seconds and then relax. This is how we're going to take
it to the next level and really focus on finding that one
movement that's going to help the most. So, this time around,
I'm just going to slow take my hands out a little bit more so
to the point where it looks like my arms are in a Y
position and then I'm going to repeat this what you're going
to notice is it hits the muscles a little bit
differently so with each repetition just go out a little
bit further and you can work your way all the way down to
the point where your arms are directly off to your side and
if you would like you can even go a little bit lower with it
what you're trying to do again is finding that one spot that
just feels like it's really weak tight or achy at that
Point, treat it like your weak link and try to do this over
and over again until everything is nice and loose or you're not
getting anymore improvement. So, this strengthening exercise
we can do right at the edge of a bed. This one is called the
shoulder blade pump. We're going to start on our stomach
and slide forward until our shoulders and head are off the
edge. From there, you're going to take two fingers, put them
right on your chin, and then slightly tuck your chin towards
your chest. From here, you're going to press the back of your
head upward towards the ceiling until you feel a really good
activation of the muscles in the neck. We're going to hold
this position during this exercise. From here, we're
going to put our arms off to our side so our body is kind of
like in a T position. We're going to make fist and then
have our thumbs pointed upward towards the ceiling. It's
kind of like a hitchhiker sign. Next, we're going to slowly
raise our fist and thumbs upward towards the ceiling
while pinching our shoulder blades at the same time. Really
focus on moving through your shoulder blades and trying to
them as much as you can. You're going to feel a ton of muscles
start to fire in the upper back, shoulders, and the neck.
Hold this one comfortably for about three to five seconds and
then relax. On the next repetition, what you want to do
is just take your arms and hands and go a little bit
upward with them so your arms now look like they're in a Y
position and then from here, you're going to repeat. You're
going to notice it hits the muscles just a little bit
differently. So, keep doing this over and over again in
different positions until your arms and hands are roughly
shoulder width apart. At that point, you want to press your
fist away from you, shrugging your shoulders upward at the
same time and then lifting your hands up. I pretty much feel
all the muscles around my shoulders into my neck starting
to fire. So, go through as many different positions. What
you're going to find is that one certain position just feels
really tight, achy, and weak. Like, let's say right here for
me. At that point, treat it like your weak link and keep
throwing more in until everything is nice and loose or
you're not getting any more improvement. If the exercises
help, please support the channel by giving this video a
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questions, please leave them below. I'll get back to you as
soon as I can. Thanks for watching.
