The neck is one of the most difficult areas to work with as there is so many things that contribute to the onset of pain. Even your thoughts can affect the muscles and create a ton of trigger points and pain! When you consider it is a part of the complex shoulder region you can begin to see why so many people never find an answer to their problems. One of the biggest saboteurs is our instincts to constantly find ways to relieve the pain, instead of finding out WHY the pain is there in the first place. It makes perfect sense as to wanting to find a way to relieve the tension immediately by stretching the area that feels tight, however, when you understand how the neck is reacting to problems elsewhere, you can begin to see how our instincts are betraying us and setting our body up for much bigger problems. In this article, I will explain what the key causes of neck pain are and why stretching the tight neck muscles is not the solution to long term pain.
How To Fix A Forward Head Posture Using A Combination Of Mobility & Strengthening Exercises
Over the past month I have had several discussions with clients who have severe pain in the neck, migraines, and some with jaw related problems that were all related to the same problem – a forward head posture. As the head moves forward, the neck straightens due to the fact that the body will try to keep the eyes lined up in a horizontal position. This is a necessary compensation to ensure you have good eyesight. Unfortunately, this places a great deal of strain on the neck structures as they need to balance the weight of the head which increases the further the head moves forward. Apart from the obvious neck pain that results from this, if left untreated this poor posture can lead to other chronic problems like migraines, jaw pain, poor breathing, weight gain, and overall poor health. Exercises commonly used to correct this condition can sometimes create more problems than they solve and also may miss out on addressing underlying dysfunctions altogether. In this article, I will share with you some of my best ways to address this all too common problem.