Pain in the neck area occurs most often in people who sit in fixed and incorrect positions, for prolonged periods, in the office, in those who drive or during sleep.

Starting from the fact that posture = positioning the body or certain segments of it in corrective positions for certain periods of time, having a therapeutic or prophylactic purpose; and stretching = controlled stretching, I recommend you to:

Keep voluptuous-aware, shoulders relaxed, lowered and slightly pulled back, head in extension of neck, gaze forward. Repeat the correct alignment of these segments at regular intervals and maintain it as much as possible both when sitting and standing. When you are lying down, you can insert a pillow or a roll to fill the cervical lordosis, that is, that cavity in the neck area.

Stretching for the cervical area is done starting from the correct posture of the area, alone or with the help of the physiotherapist, with a 10-15 second hold and a double break. It is repeated at regular time intervals. The direction of movement is in the front, neck flexion, to stretch the muscles in the back which is extensor of the head, i.e. it leads the head towards the back, it is always in tension, therefore shortened and due to the concavity of the spine on the back side, the movements are also recommended of laterality, to stretch the muscles of the respective areas which can be amplified using the hand on the same side of the movement.

What not to do:

Asymmetrical postures, one shoulder up and one down, or head turned, as well as holding the head back for long periods of time.

Extension movements, to put the head back, because the anterior muscles of the neck are already elongated and do not need stretching, and the posterior ones are shortened and do not benefit from a greater shortening, but also to avoid pressure on intervertebral discs.

Stretching exercises are not done on unheated muscles, so you have to do a few movements before, or have a massage in that area.

What you get from neck stretching and posture:

  • combating or relieving headaches,
  • combating or relieving tension and muscle pain in the cervical and upper back area,
  • toning the neck muscles,
  • better oxygenation of the respective areas.

That’s why our chair massage program ends with stretching for the cervical area done by physiotherapists with an amplitude adapted to each individual.

by physiotherapist Felician Strete