7 Methods To Effectively Get Rid Of Neck Pain

Nov 19, 2018

Statistics have shown that an average US adult spends roughly two to four hours of their day tapping, swiping and typing on their phones.

Constantly looking down at your device has serious effects on your health as that posture increases the pressure on the front and back of your neck. Here is a list of simple ways for you to improve posture and relieve neck pain at home.

How to do this exercise:

• Using different motions, maneuver and massage a tennis ball at the base of your skull.
• If a particular spot feels particularly tight, focus on this spot for 20-30 seconds then move to other areas of your neck.

Expected outcome

Massaging your neck with a tennis ball in this way digs into your soft tissue which helps you restore mobility in your neck. It also breaks up stiffness and tightness in your neck.​​​​​​​

How to do this exercise:

• Lie on your belly with your chin firmly touching the floor, then place your arms on your sides.
• Draw your knees back till your heels meet your buttocks, gripping your ankles with your hands on either side.
• Inhale while lifting your heels and thighs upwards and off the floor. At the same time, pull your head and upper torso off the floor.
• Hold for 10 seconds.
• Exhale, and lower your body back on the floor.

Expected outcome:

The bow pose is excellent for rounded shoulders as it opens them up from the front, which strengthens your back muscles as well.​​​​​​​

How to do this exercise:

• Kneel down, keeping your knees hip-width apart and your thighs at a right angle to the ground.
• With your hands on top of your buttocks, place your hands behind your pelvis.
• Draw your tail forwards, gently leaning your upper torso backward.
• Reach your hands out and grab your feet. If you are unable to do this maneuver, turn your toes downwards, so your heels are elevated enough for you to grab.
• Gently lower back your head and hold the posture for 20-30 seconds. Release and return to the initial position.

Expected outcome:

The camel pose relieves stiffness and increases mobility in and around your neck muscles.​​​​​​​

How to do this exercise:

• Lie on your belly, with your legs stretched out, placing the top part of your feet on the floor.
• Let your hands lie on the floor under your shoulders.
• Inhale while straightening your arms to lift your chest off the floor, while pressing your tailbone towards the floor. Lower your head back to the point where you feel a notable stretch.
• Hold this position for 15-30 seconds then slowly get back on the floor with an exhale.

Expected outcome:

The cobra pose not only helps realign your shoulders, restoring a natural curve in your spine but also helps lengthen the muscles at the front of your neck.

How to do this exercise:

• Sit upright with your fingers on your chin.
• Focus your eyes straight ahead and push your chin backward toward your throat.
• Once you feel a stretch at your heads base, hold this position for 5 seconds then draw your chin back out.
• Do ten repetitions.

Results

This exercise reduces tightness in your neck muscles, relieves compression in your spine, and helps align your head right over your torso.

How to do this exercise:

• Stand facing a corner in a room, with your feet together, two feet from the wall.
• Place your forearms on the wall, ensuring your elbows are slightly below your shoulder’s height.
• Ease yourself towards the corner till you feel a stretch on both your shoulders and chest.
• Hold for 30-60 seconds, then break the pose.

Expected outcome

The corner stretch will work against any pain you might be feeling in your shoulders and will also strengthen the muscles of your back.

How to do this exercise:

• For a front neck stretch, gradually bend your chin downwards towards your chest and hold for 15 seconds. Break the pose and bend your head backward and hold for another 25 seconds. Do ten repetitions in either direction.
• For a side neck stretch, bend your head to the left directly, pulling your left ear towards your left shoulder. Hold for 20 seconds and break the pose. Bend your head to the right side pulling your left ear towards your left shoulder. Again, hold for 20 seconds and break the pose. Do ten repetition of this.

Expected outcome

With neck stretches, you are able to prevent muscle tightens and pain in the neck. You might also get proper alignment.

Here are a few tips on the proper ways to use your phone to prevent straining your neck and upper back:

1. Keep devices at eye level: Instead of crouching forward to use your device, try keeping your spine neutral. A great way to ensure this is by keeping your shoulders aligned with your ears.
2. Use the Text Neck app: Highly intuitive, this application can help you recognize poor posture that causes neck pain, in turn, helping you improve it.
3. Pay attention to your posture: Be conscious of the way you hold your head. If you catch yourself in poor posture, correct it. In time, you will cultivate the habit of keeping your chin parallel to the floor.​​​​​​​
4. Go hands-free as much as possible: This will prevent you from looking down at your device. With talk-to-text apps, you can turn your voice into text messages instead of typing them out. A Bluetooth headset can also help you make voice calls a lot more comfortably.​​​​​​​
5. Take breaks every 20-30 minutes: When working on your device for long periods of time, ensure to take breaks in between to do some neck and back stretches as well as walk around before getting back down to your device. Make this a regular habit as well.​​​​​​​

These are easy to implement, practical tips that do not necessitate the use of specialized equipment of going to the gym. Some of them can even be done right at your desk.​​​​​​​

How about starting a challenge with your friends and colleagues to see how many of these tips each of you can implement and stick to? Learn, implement and be sure to let us know your experience.

Our content is created to the best of our knowledge, yet it is of general nature and cannot in any way substitute an individual consultation by your doctor. Your health is important to us!