Due to the lack of physical activity and because of prolonged working hours, many people face pain in the neck. The pain in the neck is irritating as it makes one more tired and exhausting. The following are the few exercises, which help to reduce the tension of neck muscles and to relieve neck pain.
Causes of neck pain
Neck pain is mainly caused by the following reasons. One of them is a bad postural habit, as maintaining the bad posture causes the abnormal loading on muscles and causes pain. The second one is psychological stress, as it also makes the muscles of the neck area tenser. The third is any injury like whiplash injury also results in neck pain. And the immobility of the thoracic spine (flexion, extension, and rotation) also puts stress on the neck muscles and makes them tense, which results in neck pain.
Five effective exercises for the remedy of the neck pain
To relieve neck pain, these five exercises are very effective.
Fascia roll/Tennis ball
Useful for Upper and middle back
Position: Lie on the ground and place the foam roller under your shoulder blades. After that lift, you hip so that your shoulder, spine, and hip would be in a straight line.
Performing exercise: Move your upper body in an upward and downward direction, for massaging your muscles and fascia with the help of roller.
Substitute: Any other ball like a tennis ball can also be used for this purpose. You can target the tensed area for twenty seconds.
Standing Awtuvi exercise
Position: Stand against the wall and spread arms against the wall and make the alphabet A. Try to put pressure on the wall with your joints i.e elbows, shoulders, and wrists. Also, exert pressure in the backward direction through your shoulder blades.
Performing exercise: You have to arrange your arms in the different postures. Just bend your elbows and then move them upward and make the alphabet W. Then flex your elbows perpendicularly and then move the forearm upward to make the alphabet U. Lengthen your arms in the sides and make the alphabet T. Stretch your arms in the upward and diagonal direction to make the alphabet V.
Frequency: Repeat these postures many times.
Prone Awtuvi exercise
Position: Lie on the couch by keeping your face in a downward direction (prone position). Your elbows should be slightly bent.
Performing exercise: Repeat all those postures of standing Awtuvi exercise many times, while lying in this position.
Sitting T-spine rotation with a foam roller
Position: Sit on the chair and keep your hands behind your head. Maintain your body in the upright posture while keeping the roller between your thighs.
Performing exercise: Rotate your body (head, shoulder girdle, and elbow) to one side and bend to that side. Repeat the same process to the other side.
Quadruped T spine rotation
Position: Adopt the quadruped position by going on the floor with all the four limbs (upper limb and lower limb). Maintain the distance between the shoulders and also maintain the distance between the knees. This will help in maintaining a balanced position, in which no abnormal muscle loading will take place. Place one arm behind the head.
Performing exercise: Move the bent arm in the upward direction, so that the whole body would move in that direction. After that, move the bent arm toward the opposite elbow. Keep repeating the process a few times. After that, repeat the same procedure to the other arm as well.
Precaution
Try to maintain the position of the hips while performing this exercise. All of these physical mobility exercises are of great help in getting rid of the neck pain especially if your neck pain results because of the lack of movement or prolonged sitting. Performing these exercises stretches the muscles of the neck and releases their tension and pain. Performing them correctly and at the right frequency is crucial for gaining maximum benefit out of them.
