Helpful Exercises for Neck Pain After Neck Injury
Experiencing neck pain after neck injury can take a toll on your day-to-day activities. Neck pain can adversely affect your mood, behavior, and even relationships with other people. In worse cases, neck pain can also take a toll on your productivity and become the reason you can no longer remain as active as before.
There’s run-of-the-mill neck pain and tightness, which Harvard Health estimates 7 in 10 adults will encounter, then there’s pain resulting from a neck injury. Stretches and exercises that help to relieve tension and strain aren’t always ideal for those with injuries, so find out what you can do to help aid in your own recovery from injury. This information is vital because following any exercise just for the sake of it can worsen the problem and even cause several other health problems.
Neck Pain and Neck Injury: What’s the Difference?
Everything from your pillow to your desk posture and even your cellphone habits can cause neck pain, but an existing traumatic neck injury, like whiplash or a sprain, can make these daily habits all but impossible. Old and new injuries alike can cause pain and inflammation, but there’s mounting evidence that the right exercises and stretches can be the path to relief, even for chronic pain. Situational neck pain can also be alleviated with the right stretches, but addressing problematic postures or habits is the key to lasting relief. Existing injuries, on the other hand, will often require treatment in addition to carefully selected exercises.
For run-of-the-mill tightness or soreness due to poor posture, desk work and other daily strain, these exercises can provide some relief.
- Exaggerated Nod – Sitting or standing comfortably, close your mouth so that your teeth touch but are not clenched. Look up toward the ceiling, bringing your head backward as far as is comfortable. At this point, relax your jaw and allow your mouth to open. You’ll usually be able to bring your head back a bit further after opening your mouth; hold this position and slowly close your mouth until you feel a stretching sensation in the front of your neck. Repeat whenever you feel tension, tightness or pain in your neck.
- Neck Tilt – From a seated position, tilt your neck toward one shoulder, leading with the ear. Hold the stretch for five seconds, then return to your starting position. Repeat the stretch five times on each side.
- Standing Neck Stretch – Stand with your arms by your sides, and your feet hip-width apart. Reach behind your back with both hands, holding your left wrist with your right hand. Using your right arm, slowly and gently straighten the left arm while pulling it away from your body slightly. Slowly lower your right ear toward your shoulder, holding for thirty seconds before switching sides.
When following these exercises, make sure to take it slow and gradually increase the intensity and duration moving forward. Don’t force yourself to follow all of these routines in one sitting; instead, start with one routine and then, once your neck has adapted, move forward by following more exercises.
Aside from regularly following the right exercises for your neck pain, investing in the best neck massager online can also help. Neck massagers can improve the recovery time of sore muscles, help reduce migraine and eye strain, and boost a person’s mood.
Finding the Right Exercises for Neck Pain
Every neck injury is unique in some way or another, so there’s no real one-size-fits-all exercise solution. Even if you followed the exercises your friend did to recover from neck pain, don’t expect that you’ll experience the same results when you follow his routine. Some neck exercises may aggravate an existing injury, so it’s always wise to work with an experienced chiropractor when you’ve got a neck injury or chronic neck pain.
In addition to providing appropriate exercises for neck pain after neck injury, a chiropractor can help you determine which stretches and exercises are best suited to your individual situation and condition. He has the skills and equipment to determine the cause of your neck pain, and then create tailored-fit solutions that will work for you. Chiropractic manipulation used in conjunction with at-home exercises can, as part of an overall treatment plan with clearly stated goals, improve your range of motion, pain limitations and overall quality of life.
Regularly working with a professional will give you peace of mind knowing that the exercises you’re following are actually beneficial to the condition of your neck. You won’t have any problem identifying your progress when you choose to regularly consult a chiropractor as well.
In Conclusion
Choosing the right exercise plan after a neck injury means taking your limitations and specific injury under careful consideration. Regardless of how tempting it is to follow exercises that you see online or those recommended by your friends, make sure that you don’t. It’s always best if you consult a medical professional before you follow any routine that’s meant to alleviate chronic neck pain.
