Every day millions of individuals with neck pain “stretch” their neck. But the continual neck stretching may actually be working against the healing process? Put another way, stretching is not the KEY thing that person needs to find relief of their neck pain.

That’s right…stretching a neck may actually be making neck pain worse.

How can that be true when so many people “say” it helps?

To better understand this, we need to know what “helping” really means. Is the person getting relief for minutes, hours, days? Often those who regularly stretch their neck only find relief for maybe an hour at most and then you will see them cranking on their neck again. This process goes on all day long. If stretching was truly helping – they would not have to stretch so frequently. What this tends to indicate is that their neck muscles are actually over-stretched…and yes that can be an issue.

At this point, we need to ask our self, if stretching is not the answer, what is?

Generally speaking there is not one answer to cover all the possibilities. Very likely the person will need a combination of strengthening (neck, back, and shoulders), in addition to education on posture, regular movement, and exercise…and maybe just a little stretching selectively based on examination findings.

Often when a person does not find TRUE relief from stretching it is an indication that the person needs to work on neck and upper back strengthening. Frequently these individuals sit and work all day or have a job where they are forced to look down for an extended period of time. These situations put a relative increased strain on select muscles resulting in an imbalance in the neck muscles. Thus, addressing this issue and redeveloping balance through movement and exercise is helpful.

If you are someone who or knows someone who is a constant neck stretcher, consider getting up and moving at least once per hour. Avoid sitting or looking down for hours on end. Learn a series of neck and/or upper back muscle exercises to develop or maintain balance in the muscle system.

If you don’t know where to begin – try clicking on this LINK for tips and suggestions to deal with, overcome, or prevent neck pain that stretching does not help.