Muscle Medicine: The Revolutionary Approach to Maintaining, Strengthening, and Repairing Your Muscles and Joints (18 page)

How to do it:
Press in and toward the shoulder slightly so that the fingers stay with the muscle and don’t slide. Bring the ear toward the opposite shoulder. Hold for a count of two. Repeat on the opposite side. Do two to three repetitions on three points per zone, moving from the neck out toward the shoulder.

Troubleshooting:
Avoid pressing too hard; let the fingers move over the skin and muscle by using angled pressure. The ear should end up over the opposite shoulder; don’t let the head drop forward or back or rotate left or right at any point in the movement. Finally, don’t lift the shoulder up toward the ear; relax and let the shoulders drop down.

ANTERIOR AND POSTERIOR NECK

Purpose:
To bring the muscles of the front and back neck through their pain-free range of motion and warm up the muscles of the neck and upper back.

Starting out:
Sit on a stability ball or chair with your feet spread shoulders’ width apart. Keeping an upright posture, your head should be neutral with your eyes facing forward.

How to do it:
Gently tilt your head forward toward the chest as though gently holding a tennis ball under the chin. Hold for two seconds. Keeping an upright posture, bring the head gently back to the starting position, then tilt the head back, reaching the nose up toward the ceiling. Hold each end position for a count of two. Do ten repetitions, held for no more than two seconds each.

Troubleshooting:
Do not let your head collapse forward or back or let your shoulders come up. Keep an upright posture to avoid compression of the neck. You should feel a stretch in the back of your neck, then the front, but not too much tension on the nonstretching side. This should be a gentle movement.

LATERAL NECK

A. LATERAL FLEXION

Purpose:
To bring the neck muscles through their pain-free range of motion (ROM). This will warm them up and allow the ends of the ROM to be safely explored.

Starting out:
Sit on a stability ball or chair with your feet spread shoulders’ width apart. Keeping the head in line with the shoulders, sit up straight.

How to do it:
Tilt your head/ear toward one shoulder. If this can be accomplished without pain or compression of the neck, at the end of the movement you can use your hand to gently bring the head a little farther toward the shoulder. Hold for a count of two. Repeat on the opposite side. Do ten repetitions, held for no more than two seconds each.

Troubleshooting:
Keep your head in line with your shoulders: don’t let it tilt forward or back or rotate left or right at any point in the movement. Don’t shrug the shoulders up toward the ears or look to the side—keep looking straight ahead.

B. ROTATION

Purpose:
To bring the rotational neck muscles through their pain-free range of motion and warm up the muscles of the neck and upper back.

Starting out:
Sit on a stability ball or chair with your feet spread shoulders’ width apart. The spine should be upright and the eyes facing forward.

How to do it:
Rotate the head/chin to the right. Keep the head up to avoid compression of the neck. Hold for a count of two. Repeat on the opposite side. Do ten repetitions, held for no more than two seconds each.

Troubleshooting:
This is a gentle movement. There should not be any pain or strain. Do not overtwist the neck, and maintain an upright posture. Avoid flexing your head forward or extending it back.

ALL NECK MUSCLES, SUPERFICIAL TO DEEP

CERVICAL TRACTION WITH TOWEL ROLL

Purpose:
This stretch is unique to this book in that it is a passive relaxation (also known as positional release). The deepest musculature is targeted as well as the more superficial layers. Its purpose is to bring the neck muscles into a neutral state and to promote relaxation, especially of tight, spasmed, or imbalanced muscles.

Starting out:
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Place a rolled towel under your neck, creating a subtle traction. The spine should be in a neutral position, anatomical curve.

How to do it:
The towel roll is a small towel rolled into a cylinder so that it supports the neck comfortably without propping the head off the floor. You should experience comfortable lengthening or “opening” of the neck and a relaxation of all the muscles. (Optionally, you can place a gel ice pack over the towel and cover it with a layer or two of paper towels. Ice for five to fifteen minutes. Repeat after an hour, if necessary.)

Troubleshooting:
Stop immediately if there is pain or if symptoms worsen. Don’t use too big or too small of a towel roll or the neck will not be neutral and the muscles won’t be able to relax completely. The neck should not feel compressed in the front or back. Contact a health-care professional if numbness or tingling occurs in the arms during this or any of the stretches or self-treatment.

ANTERIOR, POSTERIOR, AND LATERAL NECK

A. HEAD PUSHES AGAINST A WALL

Purpose:
To strengthen the muscles of the anterior, posterior, and lateral neck. This will warm them up and increase cervical spine stabilization, which contributes significantly to spine health.

Starting out:
(This describes the anterior neck exercise, but the same exercise can be adapted for the back or the sides of the neck.) Stand with your feet shoulders’ width apart. Keeping an upright posture and looking forward, place a ball between your head and the wall.

How to do it:
Without leaning, press the head gently into the ball, then release. Do ten repetitions, held for no more than two seconds each.

Troubleshooting:
Do not push the ball with any significant force. Do not lean the body into the ball. Keep up good posture—do not bend the neck in any other direction while pressing the ball.

B. HEAD PUSHES AGAINST HAND RESISTANCE

Purpose:
To strengthen the muscles of the anterior, posterior, and lateral neck. This will warm them up and increase cervical spine stabilization.