Home care during Stage 4: Move and Soothe your Neck and Shoulders
This post is for anyone missing their normal routine and would like some tips on getting rid of the tension and restriction they are starting to feel in their neck, upper back and shoulders.
As most of you are aware, during the stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne allied health are only allowed to practice on a more urgent basis, meaning that a lot of our regular clients are missing out on getting their regular adjustments as well as maintaining themselves while living in lock down.
Never fear however as Martin and I are still in practice!
If you have a specific issue please do not hesitate to contact the practice so we can see how we can keep you going.
Below is a video Martin made at home about how to keep yourself moving at home, helping your neck keep moving, free up a lot of the tension you have felt building, especially over the last few weeks of stage 4 lock downs.
As usual with our videos, the transcript is available below, but I strongly recommend you have a watch as Martin runs through some excellent tips, stretches, exercises and muscle releases that will have you feeling a lot more yourself during this period.
The video has a few sections so if you REALLY felt like it you can skip to a section you find most relevant, however the way that Martin has filmed it the segments build on each other to get the most out of each one.
Enjoy!
2:00 Todays video is about...
3:52- Where to begin?
4:15 Rotational Movements of the Neck
5:32 Lateral Flexion of the Neck
7:12 Flexion/ Extension of the Neck
8:07 Shoulder Exercise
9:28- 3 exercises to open shoulders
13:48- Overhead position for shoulders
14:54- Focus on Alignment
17:23- Intro Spikey Ball Exercise
18:27 Beginning of Spikey Ball Exercise
23:27 Conclusion
Hi, Martin here from Align Chiropractic. Today's video is a follow along video, meaning I'm going to be taking you through some things that you can do, and you can more or less just watch the video and follow on.
So, the purpose of this video, it's really about moving your upper spine, your neck, your shoulders, your middle back to get mobility in those areas but also to soothe those areas.
It's really based on the clinical model that we use in our practice where we see that there's a real benefit in looking at the spine in kind of a sequential way, that spinal problems generally what's happening is that segments of the spine rather than having the ability to move through their full range of motion and kind of jammed up from either trauma, or long periods of time in particular postures, or stress tightening up the muscles around it.
And then as the joints jam up that changes the way the nerves and muscles and all the other soft tissues work, which then changes the alignment of your spine, and this change in movement and alignment of the vertebra causes misfiring of nerves which has a whole range of effects on your body, but specifically it can affect your ability to kind of balance the whole system.
If you're not balancing the whole system then your spine's going to be less stable. It's much more common for you to have problems with your back, your neck and the rest of your body if things aren't stable. So, if we look at that it goes movement, then alignment, then balance, then stability and so a common thing that I’ll see is people talking about ‘I need to do stability work or core stability work’.
I actually think it's really important that we do the basics first we've got to get movement happening first, and then once we've got movement, then we want to have a proper alignment so that when we're stabilizing first of all it's more effective, but we're also locking in a good movement pattern and a good alignment pattern rather than locking in poor ones.
2:00 Todays video is about...
So this one specifically, today's video is really about dealing with this upper part of the spine because many of us are locked into these postures working at a desk or the effect of stress tightens up our neck and shoulder muscles and pushes our head posture forward and so this is really about restoring movement to those areas and then getting our alignment back into that nice upright posture.
I'm also going to be combining some approaches that come from new research into the interplay between how we breathe and our stress response and in particular if you want to dive deeper into this, there's a neuroscientist called Andrew Hubermann who's based at University of California, sorry based at Stanford and we're going to be using a couple of different approaches to breathing that we're combining with the movement approach and using a ball- spikey ball, or a tennis ball, or a lacrosse ball that we'll be using to just release muscle tension and some of that will be just I'll be cueing you to breathe in through your nose, and then we'll also be using an approach called a physiological sigh, which is really where you just take in a deep breath through your nose and then another deep breath through your nose before
letting it out and the emerging evidence is that this is a really quick and easy way of us helping to unwind some of the neurological effects of stress which we know can have really significant impacts on how we feel and how healthy we are. So, let's dive straight into this follow along routine to help release tension in neck, shoulders, upper back, and get movement into those areas so that you can have a healthier, happier, more active body
3:52- Where to begin?
Well the first thing that we want to do is we want to encourage movement back into the neck, so with the postures that we've been in and the lack of movement and there's a tendency for our neck to kind of stiffen up, and there's a segmental part of that which is what wewould address in office with an adjustment, then there's kind of an overall regional movement that we can address with exercise.
4:15 Rotational Movements of the Neck
So first movement we're going to do is we're going to be doing rotational movements. With this I just want you to be taking nice slow breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth.
So first of all just turn your head all the way to the left, and then go all the way to the right. I'm going to go through this five times each way, and we're not pushing we're just holding at that end range- nice and gently.
Let's see it just easing into it letting your shoulders drop, just letting that tension, that sort of habitual tension ease away. That's it. I think that's four, probably need a better way to count to be able to do this. Okay, I'm going to say that's five.
5:32 Lateral Flexion of the Neck
So next we're going be moving into lateral flexion so we just need to be cautious with this, if you get any pinching, any sort of sharp sensation that says you don't want to go that far, you want to stop before that point.
All of these mobility things are done within what feels just you're touching that point of tension or restriction. So sideways it's going all the way over there.
I'm just pausing at that end range, maybe a count of three. Just working our way into that range, just getting every vertebrae in our neck and even into our upper back starting to move.
This is our third one. Maybe just pause a little bit longer there, any sort of knotty points you can just almost sort of focus on it, just get that movement happening, just nodding a little bit back and forward. Okay that's four. So one more to go.
Last round for lateral flexion. Lateral flexion's actually a really important movement there's not many day-to-day activities that we do to encourage this range of motion, so it's often an exercise that we'll have people do because getting lateral flexion actually encourages movement in the other range.
7:12 Flexion/ Extension of the Neck
So now we're going to go flexion/ Extension. Flexion I'm going to get you to go nice and gently on, because we all tend to spend a lot more time in flexion than we do an extension. With extension which is the one going back, again just be really mindful that you don'twant to be getting any pinching sensation with that. With this one I'm doing it up against the wall. If you feel any dizziness with this then back off, maybe skip this part of it. This is our last one, our fifth repetition. Okay.
8:07 Shoulder Exercise
Now functionally interlinked with your neck is your shoulders, and so again all this time spent like this, there's an alignment component of that, but before we can really address the alignment we've got to get the ability for these joints to move, so first up I’m going to do a stretch across the body, trying not to mess up my mic here.
So come all the way across, and we're just going to breathe in through the nose, and out. I'm going to do this one for three breaths. Just going to go a little bit further on this third one. Okay and then we're going to swap our arms. Bringing the arm across, the other arm just hooks in next to the elbow there. Breathe in, out. Breathe in, and out.
9:28- 3 exercises to open shoulders
So, it started to get some mobility, but really if we want to be able to bring our shoulders back which is what most of us need because so much of our activity is in front of us, we want to be opening up and restoring that movement that way.
So what we're going to do here is spend sort of three exercises bringing and opening up this in the front of our shoulder.
The first one what we're going to do here is we're going to put our hand up on the wall above horizontal, so if that's horizontal first one we want is up here, and then i've got my body sort of facing away there my elbow is straight, and then i'm turning out this way, and then i'm going to do three breaths there. So in through the nose, and out. That’s two. I can just rotate a little bit more, and three.
I'm just going to take that tension off, and now i'm going to that horizontal level, and it'll feel a little bit different, it's going to hit a slightly different part of the shoulder.
So again in through the nose, and out through the mouth. And three. Now we're just going to do just below horizontal to again getslightly different part of the shoulder.
We're going to come across. One, Two, that’s three. Okay, so now we're going to repeat exactly the same thing but on the opposite side. So first one, if that's horizontal we're going up maybe 30 degrees above horizontal, rotating away feeling the stretch at the front of the shoulder maybe a little bit into the arm. One, Two, That's three.
Then we're going to a horizontal point now, taking that stretch back up, and then in through the nose, out through the mouth. That's three. So, I'm going to get out just below horizontal one there, take that stretch up. And then in through the nose, and out. Then that's it, just move your shoulders around enjoy that extra mobility there.
13:48- Overhead position for shoulders
So next what we're going to be working on is bringing up into flexion or sort of like an overhead position for our shoulders. So, with this I'm standing sort of basically like arm length away from a wall, and I reach out, I put my hands down keeping my elbows straight and then what i'm doing from here is keeping my arms straight and dropping my body all the way down.
I'm not rounding my back, I'm keeping my back quite straight, and then getting that movement back into the shoulders giving them that full range. We're just going to do three breaths here, so in through the nose and then out.
14:54- Focus on Alignment
So next what we're going to do is move on from looking at movement and we're going to focus instead on alignment. What we're really wanting to do is to reverse that tendency that we all have to have this sort of position, and so what we're going to do is do an exercise called a W exercise, which is where you make your arms into a W shape with the thumbs facing backward.
I always like to sort of correct the head posture so pull your head back, and I also like to look up slightly because that helps just release the activation here. What we're really wanting to do is use these muscles down here in between our shoulder blades. So, make the W shape look up slightly and then what we're doing is trying to not use these muscles but use those ones in between your shoulder blades.
We're squeezing back one two three. Relaxing one, two, three. One, two, three. One two, three. We're going to go for ten so that's four, three. One, two, three, so I'm going to say that one's four, and five
Six. If it's getting uncomfortable, if things are starting to burn just take a little break, six and seven.
So it's kind of this back and down movement that we're after- just caught myself looking down too much. Nine and last one. Good.
What we've done there is really kind of reset our alignment, and that'll mean that rather than when your heads forward everything through has to be working overtime just to stop your head from going forward with gravity. So we're going to use that we've gotmovement, we've got alignment.
Spikey Ball: 17:23
Now what I want to do is just kind of soothe this area. We're all doing a lot of this, let's just work through with some pressure on those areas, and for this i'm going to suggest that you use a ball, a spiky ball. In this case this is a lacrosse ball, and what we're going to start with is we're going to be doing three individual spots. We're going to be doing one right in between the spine and the shoulder blade here, then we're going to be doing one that's up, almost on the meaty bit above your shoulder blade, and then we're going to be doing this little corner in here where your arm joins onto your shoulder blade there.
We're going to do that on each side. We're going to use that slightly different breathing where rather than just breathing in through your nose and then out through your mouth, if you want to experiment with it, this is a really good place to use that physiological sigh, which just helps reset our nervous system from a stress sort of state, into what they call a parasympathetic state, which is putting your nervous system in a state to promote rest and relaxation and kind of de-stressing.
18:27 beginning of spikey ball exercise
So let's start off. You put the ball against the wall, and then just drop it down a little bit so you can get into that spot and rather than rolling around, what I like to do for this is just find a tender spot, hold pressure there. And then we're going to go breathe in through the nose, and then second breath, and then out. So just moving into a slightly different spot there.
Breathe in, second breath, and out. Breathe in.
Now we're going to move to the top of the shoulder. So, for this one you almost need to angle back a little bit. I'm just going to find that fleshy bit there. All right so I’m going to breathe in. Okay, so that's our three breaths there. Now for this one, I've got a really a choice of going on the actual arm here, or for most people this area in the side of the shoulder blades the spot that you want to hit, so I'm going to hit that one.
If you're doing this by yourself you could maybe do an extra round where you go to the other one if you're feeling tender in both, but I'm on the side of the shoulder blade.
The easiest way of getting there is having your body sort of on a 45-degree angle there, just finding that tender spot- okay that's definitely it. And so I'm going to breathe in through my nose, that's number two, let's go for number three- that's a really tender one.
Okay, so now what we're going to do- oops dropped my ball. And i'm back. All right so same sequence, we're just going to do the opposite side. So again, ball against the wall, I'm just going to roll into that spot just next to my shoulder blade there. All right that's it, I've got the right spot, so I'm going to breathe in through my nose. Second breath.
So now I'm just going to reposition that ball. I'm getting ready from the top of that shoulder blade there. First breath, double breath. Second breath, that's our third breath there.
Now we're just going to move to the outside of the shoulder there. So again, looking for either on the shoulder blade or the back of the arm. So I'm going to keep it consistent that 45 degree angle here. I’m going for that spot on the shoulder blade just breathing in I'm just moving up a little bit, finding that real epicenter of tension there. All right that's it, so breathe in at that spot...really relax into it. One more, breathe in through the nose.
Conclusion: 23:27
So there we have it, we've got movement through shoulders, neck, sort of upper back as well, then we've reset our alignment so thatwe're in a nice upright position and then we've kind of reset the tension, reset the nervous system giving you the best chance of having ahealthier, happier more active body. Thanks for following along.
In a slump...Is it time to stand tall and stop your mum from nagging you?
Good Posture...I know, I can feel how bored you are already. I don't blame you. Can you even count how many times you have been nit picked about slouching?
And why the hell should you care right? I mean, who cares that you slump a little? Plus, its so hard to stop doing! You try so hard to be upright when you first get to your computer but sure enough, 2 hours later you find yourself leaning into the screen of your computer with your shoulders hanging from your ears and a back hunch that would make Mr. Burns envious.
A man displaying woeful posture...in need of nagging
As a Chiropractor, 2 things happen often in my life.
The first is that at almost every time I am introduced to a person or group, most people instinctively straighten their backs and sit or stand taller, as if they all instinctively know that 'Good Posture' is important (even if we don't know why) and that its something we only think about when prompted to (even though we know deep down that our posture isn't great in the first place)
The second is that poor posture is one of the leading causes the issues that we see in our practice every day!
Low back, neck pain, jaw pain, shoulder injury, predisposition to spinal degeneration, carpal tunnel type symptoms, migraines and tension headaches are some of the most common symptoms we see day in and day out and it doesn't take much Googling to find that a lot of these problems are either caused by, or at the least made worse by, poor posture.
So, how does having bad posture lead to these issues?
The answer is actually really simple and its actually a major part of understanding what we do as chiropractors:
Nervous system feedback and the body’s position in space
"The deeper layers of muscle are concerned with ‘sensing’ our position in space and relaying this information to the brain. If this function is taken over by muscles... (As a result) the brain gets an incomplete picture. The brain assumes that the body needs to be propped up to counteract the effects of gravity, so it triggers further muscle contraction. This adds to the general fatigue and pain felt by the person with poor posture." - The Victorian Government's better health website
The issues with poor posture appear to go beyond just the physical mechanics as well!
If I told you to imitate a person who is stressed out, anxious or depressed, I bet you would tighten and slightly raise your shoulders, pushing your head forward and making you shorter. Sound familiar?
Some authors discuss that consistently being in this position might actually lead to deepened depression, increases in perceived stress, circulation issues, as well as negatively affecting digestion, breathing mechanics and the we way we are perceived by ourselves and others!
So what can we do about it? Well I'm here to tell you that dealing with posture is both simple AND challenging.
Simple in that there are very basic ways that we can start to work on and improve how our body holds itself, yet challenging in that as Australian's, we are sitting or lying down for an average of 23 hours and 47 minutes, so we have a lot practice at bad posture to try and work against!
Over the space of a few more blog posts, I am hoping to talk you through some strategies to start tackling this problem, but until then, if you have any questions, or if yourself or someone close to you needs help getting out of their slump, please do not hesitate to contact us at Align on (03) 9696 1057.
Back To School Tips - Backpacks
Here are some helpful hints on how to be kind on your spine while still looking cool and carrying around all your school books/iPads/laptops! The Chiropractors Association of Australia have his helpful handout to keep with up to date research on how to wear your back pack correctly.
The main points are:
- Your child's backpack should weigh no more than 10% of his/her body weight. If you have a primary school aged child who's bag is heavier than this - you can always carry it to and from school for them! For high school students - encourage them to carry heavy items in their arms rather than in their bags
- Ensure the heavier items are packed closest to their spine and lighter items towards the front of the backpack
- Wear your shoulder straps over BOTH shoulders
- Pretty Obvious - Only pack what you need
If you have any other queries/concerns about whether your child's backpack is adequate, feel free to have one of our Chiropractors check it for you.
