If you have neck pain, you are certainly not alone. In 2017, a staggering 166 million female and 122.7 million male cases of neck pain were reported worldwide¹. If gone untreated, or if treated incorrectly, acute neck pain can turn chronic and debilitating.
We’re here to share with you the gold standard in terms of physical therapy treatment of the neck. Two words, one simple exercise – CHIN TUCKS! This exercise can be done in any position (seated, standing, lying on your back, driving in your car, etc.).
Here’s how it goes:
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- Draw your neck and head backwards, as if you were giving yourself a double chin, lining up your ears with your shoulders.
- Imagine someone is pushing your forehead and chin backwards at the same time.
- Hold this position for 5-10 seconds.
- Relax your neck to a neutral position.
- Perform 2 sets of 10 reps, a few times throughout the day.
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Okay… we lied. It’s not as simple as it seems. Here are some common mistakes that we see in the clinic:
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- Extending the head upwards instead of drawing it back (as if you were moving the head the look towards the ceiling)
- Protruding the neck forwards, as if you were a chicken
- Touching the chin to chest rather than drawing the neck back
- Not aligning the ears with shoulders
- Performing the exercise with poor posture (shoulders rounded or excessively forwards)
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Now as far as that other pain in the neck, well… we can’t help you with that.
References
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8725362/#:~:text=The%20burden%20of%20neck%20pain,to%20167.5)%20%5B5%5D.