Because there are many causes of neck pain, spine experts say make sure to consult a physician if you have severe pain causing radiating or throbbing pain down the neck and arms or if you feel any numbness or difficulty in walking. Causes of neck pain can include injury from a fall or an accident, degeneration of the spine’s discs, osteoporosis, a pinched nerve from tissue inflammation and osteoarthritis, which can cause a narrowing of the spine, called stenosis.
But most commonly, the culprit is strains and sprains to the muscles and ligaments, says David Kohns, a doctor of osteopathic medicine and clinical assistant professor in physical medicine, rehabilitation and pain medicine at the University of Michigan School of Medicine.
Stress-related muscle tension or sedentary behavior (i.e., sitting too much) can also be causes of pain. For example, someone stressed and sitting for many hours may repeatedly hunch their shoulders, pulling the head forward and out of alignment, and cause tight muscles.
First, get up and walk around regularly, especially after sitting for long periods. Taking a break and standing will naturally encourage head and shoulders to draw back, Medcalf says.
To prevent and ease neck pain, spine experts recommend trying one or two of the exercises listed below or in the accompanying video. Gradually add in more exercises to increase the challenge. If they feel good, do them twice a day.
If any of the exercises leads to increasing pain, stop doing them and call your doctor. “Sharp pain with movement, especially for older adults, could be an underlying condition, so you should get it checked out,” Goertz says.
Try these for relieving pain and stretching a stiff neck.
1. Box breathing
Slow, deep breathing can trigger the calming part of the nervous system and loosen tension in the neck. Kohns suggests to his clients a focused imagery-based breathing exercise called box breathing. The technique is a slow, controlled pattern that Navy SEALS have adopted to help them cope with high-stress situations, where the person imagines a box and follows their inhales and exhales around the sides of the box. “A lot of the muscles in the neck are accessory, respiratory muscles,” Kohns says. “So, starting off with some basic box breathing is going to send a general relaxing tone throughout all the muscles.”
Here’s how to do it:
Sit in a chair. You can do this exercise with your eyes open or closed. If your eyes are open, look straight ahead. Imagine there is a box floating in front of you. Focus your eyes on the bottom left corner of the box. As you inhale, imagine your breath tracing the box’s left side. Pause. Then exhale, tracing the box’s top side. Pause. Inhale, tracing the box’s right side. Pause. Exhale, tracing the box’s bottom side. Pause. Repeat this breathing pattern five times.
2. Head retraction
To counter the forward motion of the head, try an exercise of taking the head in a backward pattern — called head retraction, Medcalf says. With this exercise, the head is encouraged to move backwards as far it can with the goal of realigning the neck with the rest of the spine. This movement approach draws from the McKenzie method, which research has shown can reduce back and neck pain.
Sit in a chair, looking straight ahead. Place one or two fingers on your chin and then slightly tuck your chin. (Don’t tilt your head up.) While keeping your gaze ahead, use the fingers to direct your head slowly but steadily backward as if someone has gotten very close to your face and you want to create distance between you and that person. When your head has gone as far back as it can, hold the position for three to five seconds and then let your fingers go and relax. Repeat 10 to 15 times.
3. Thoracic spine extensions
Sit in a chair with a back that comes about midway to the upper back. Then clasp your hands behind your neck with elbows pointed forward and slowly bend backward over the edge of the chair. Hold for three to five seconds and then slowly release out of the stretch. Repeat five times. If the edge of the chair causes discomfort, you can place a towel over it or place a towel behind your shoulders. See a variation of this exercise that’s also a great stretch in No. 1 of the video below.
4. Shoulder rolls
In a sitting or standing position, raise both shoulders toward your ears. Then slowly roll the shoulders backward and down. Then roll them forward toward the front of the body and up toward your ears, making slow continuing circles. Repeat five times. Then do the rolls in the opposite direction. Repeat five times and relax.
5. Seated reverse shoulder fly
Sit on the edge of the chair and lean forward. Tuck your chin. Extend your arms in line with your knees, palms facing each other. Raise your arms away from each other and out to your sides. Pause and then slowly return to the starting position. Repeat the exercise 10-15 times.
