Alleviating Neck Pain and Headaches, Part 1 - Stretching the Neck

Neck pain and headaches are often caused by excessive muscle tension in the neck and shoulders, which can lead to nerve impingements, disc misalignments and feelings of tension, discomfort and pain. These symptoms can be relieved, or at least partially relieved, with a regular stretching routine that lengthens all of the major muscle groups of the neck and shoulders.

Keep in mind that headaches are often caused by a number of different factors together leading to the pain that you feel, and for everyone the collection of issues are quite different and therefore require different approaches.

For example, headaches and neck pain are often cause by sitting at the computer for long periods of time, leading to a relaxed, slouching posture, which often results as well in a 'head forward' position. This is common for people who are constantly gazing into a computer screen for hours a day.

This particular posture will tighten the muscles around the front of the neck and shoulders, including the ste
ocleidomastoid, anterior scalenes, pectoralis and biceps, while stressing supporting muscles at the back, such as the upper traps, levator scapula, and erector spinae.

If you would like to learn how to stretch the major muscle groups of the neck, check out the website at the bottom of this article, where I have posted videos on how to do these stretches. Go to 'Yoga Poses', and under 'Body Part', select 'Neck'.

When working through them, judge for yourself which ones feel the tightest, and which stretches provide relief when stretched. Then go back to those more frequently with the intention of loosening them gradually over time. Muscles have what is called a 'muscle memory', and you need to change it from 'hypertense' to 'relaxed', by reminding it to go back to its lengthened state.

When moving through the stretches, keep two things in mind:

1) Muscles let go gradually over time and 2) Muscles respond best when warm and relaxed.

Stretching combined with heat and massage is very effective. And, most important of all, if you can begin to move out of the posture that has been creating the tension and pain in the first place, it will help reinforce a pain-free position for the whole musculoskeletal structure. Good alignment will address the source of the problem, making it easier for your body to remain in a pain free state.

Have fun!