Kieran Whelan 6/9/21 Kieran Whelan 6/9/21

Still working from home? How to keep your Neck and shoulders moving

Even though Melbourne will be thawing out of Lock down 4.0, we are aware that a lot of our clients will still be working from home again for a while.

If this is you, Its very important that you keep on top of your spinal health while you re adjust to working from home for the foreseeable future.

Fortunately, during Lockdown 2.0, Martin made this comprehensive video outlining everything you can do to keep yourself moving stay on top of your posture, and free up a lot of the tension you have felt building, especially over the last few weeks of lock downs.

Avid readers of this blog will note that we posted this video in September last year, but given recent events, I feel like Martin’s video couldn’t be more poignant so I am reposting for your convenience.

If you have a specific issue please do not hesitate to contact the practice so we can see how we can keep you going.

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.

Kieran Whelan 2/17/21 Kieran Whelan 2/17/21

Move & Soothe - Express Neck, Shoulders, Low Back & Hips

Welcome to 2021, the year where everything could, but so far, usually nothing has had a chance yet to change!

All jokes aside, it feels to Martin and I that our clients are sitting more than ever, and it can be really hard as a lot of you and your loved ones are still having to work from home.

Outside of Melbourne’s Lockdown 3.0 (for those of you unfamiliar, it was like 2.0 but thankfully shorter and for some reason there was tennis), we have found a lot of people are still struggling with their home work set ups, or even struggling to transition between home and office work spaces as working in the office becomes a possibility again.

As always, Align is here. in this, our newest title in our ‘Move and Soothe’ series, Martin has made an express version to help you free up your neck, shoulders, hips and low back.

As always, the transcript can be found below.

Hi, Martin here from Align Chiropractic and this is another in our series of ‘Move and Sooth’ videos today's video is designed to be a super fast one that you can do and it's specifically aimed at people who are having to spend a lot of time stuck at their desk, which then tends to cause a lot of pressure, a lot of stiffness, a lot of tension in our neck and down into our shoulders, but also down into around your hips and lower back.

So we're going to run through a little routine that we can do.

Ideally all you will need is a ball you can use, this a lacrosse ball, you can use this or a spiky ball or a tennis ball and that's all the equipment you'll need to be able to really take a lot of that tension out of neck shoulders and back.

Neck ROM exercise

So first up what we're going to do is get some movement and encourage full range of motion of our neck.

Our joints in our spine work at their best when they can move through their full range of motion and the challenge for us in our daily, sort of more sedentary lifestyles is that we really don't use that range of motion, so taking our joints through the full range of motion really helps to free things up and helps all the tissues around your spine be healthier and happier.

First up we're just going to introduce rotation, so we're just going to turn all the way gently to the left. We’re never forcing anything, we're just going to that comfortable range, just waiting there for a moment and then we'll go all the way over to the right.

For this express version, we're just going to do three times through each of these movements.

So that's the second time to the left second time to the right, just that little pause at the end there, just being aware that your shoulders are holding tension, that’s the third time to the right.

Next, we're going to go into lateral flexion.

Left side just bending all the way over to the left and all the way over to the right.

Lateral flex is such an important but often neglected aspect of our range of motion because there's not that many things that we're doing in day-to-day life where we use it but the movement that your spinal joints do when you're doing this movement

translates into healthier movement in every other range…so that's three times each way, that's the third to the left, to the right, we're really recovering lots of that range of motion.

One little variation you can do if you're aware of a lot of tension at the top here is rather than thinking ‘ear towards your shoulder’ you can do that one as thinking of the ‘opposite ear going up towards the sky’, it just focuses a lot of that lateral flexion in the very top part of our neck so again just going gently from side to side.

Thats it, nice and easy, never forcing anything, just going within the comfortable range.

One more…okay.

So that's the end of our initial mobilising sort of routine getting range of motion back into the joints, next we're going to grab our ball against the wall, we're going to use some pressure to release or soothe built up tension.

With this what we want to do is use the ball across all this muscle, from near your shoulder blade and in between your shoulder blade and your spine and your neck.

The easiest way of doing it is raise your, arm up just pin the ball just next to your shoulder blade and then just roll across to get into this little bit between spine and shoulder blade and then again, I’m just going to move up and down and when I find this, oh that's a really tight spot there, just going to hold pressure, I can move my arm, I can move my neck just get some movement, as well as some pressure, to just dissipate tension in there.

I’m just going to move up a little bit higher, I’m just going to work all through this area, this fleshy part of the levator sap and trapezius muscle, all through the rhomboid muscle.

Just working my way through there you might spend 30 or 40 seconds working through there and then really it's as simple as taking the ball and popping it on the other side.

Just do this, you don’t need to necessarily see that but you get the idea, just 30 to 40 seconds of applying some pressure there.

There we go, let’s see that's releasing nicely. You can spend longer or if you can come back to that.

We're going to move on now to the lower back.

Low Back Exercise

So now we're going to move on to movement, but this time in the lower part of our spine.

And so, first up what we're going to do here is go through lateral flexion again

I don't use that that often but it’s super important in terms of how all the soft tissues in our lower back and hips work.

So, really as simple as just running your hand down the side of your leg, I mean if you follow the seam on a pair of trousers or shorts in this case, the second time, that's the second time to the left, just pausing, never forcing, nice and gently, shouldn’t be any pain, just touch that end point where you feel a little bit of resistance and then just hold there a little brief pause and that's three each side.

And now what we're going to do is move on to rotation, but to do rotation we need to be on the ground.

So next what we're going to do is introduce some rotation into the lower back so just lie on your back, nice and gently let the hips both roll, rather, let your both hips roll that way so you're getting nice rotation through the lower back.

We're just pausing at that end point. It’s really critical with this one to just work within the comfortable range of motion.

Just a little pause there, last one, and then from there we can use our ball to just gently, gently release a little bit of the tension.

So, on the back just on the area, just above where your belt line might be, up into the upper glute area there, that tends to get really tight, and again just rolling 30 degrees, 45 degrees onto my side, working through any tight areas there, oh that's a tight one, just applying a little bit of pressure there.

If I find a really spicy one I can just move my leg up and down and once I've done some work through there, it's really nice to just move right onto your side this is the gluteus medius muscle, which is the main muscle that stabilises your hip, but it tends to get really really short if we're sitting a lot, so just applying some nice pressure there, just holding that tender spot, letting the weight of gravity just gently push down on there, release that tension, swap over to the other side and do that 45 degree.

Another way you can use it is just to gently move your leg up and down like that and then move on to the side get that gluteus medius.

I'm showing a fairly short version, you can spend as long as you want and doing this.

Generally you're going to get a really nice improvement with as little as a minute or so.

So there we have it the express version of ‘Move and Soothe’ covering neck, shoulders, hips and back.

See you next time

Kieran Whelan 8/19/20 Kieran Whelan 8/19/20

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.

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

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.

2:00 Todays video is about...

3:52- Where to begin?

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.

5:32 Lateral Flexion of the Neck

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.

7:12 Flexion/ Extension of the Neck

8:07 Shoulder Exercise

9:28- 3 exercises to open shoulders

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.

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.

13:48- Overhead position for shoulders

14:54- Focus on Alignment

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.

Spikey Ball: 17:23

18:27 beginning of spikey ball exercise

Breathe in, second breath, and out. Breathe in.

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.

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.

Conclusion: 23:27

Kieran Whelan 9/10/18 Kieran Whelan 9/10/18

The most important step to choosing the right pillow

If you are one of the many people who are not sure where to start when selecting a pillow then please watch our quick video on what we think is THE most important step when making your choice.

Let's face it, there are too many options for pillows out there. There are so many materials, shapes, and seemingly random options for you to choose and the hardest part for a lot of our clients is that nearly all of them seem incredibly expensive!

Choosing the right pillow for you is very important but it shouldn't be something you lose sleep over.

At Align we believe that there is one simple factor that you need to consider above all else before settling on a new pillow.

If you have any further questions after you have watched the video about choosing a pillow or how best to approach sleep to manage your issues (be it posture, neck pain, low back pain or headaches), please do not hesitate to contact us at Align. We have a select range of pillows on hand at any time that are available to you even if you have never been in before.

Knowing how important sleep is to our community, we are always happy to offer a complimentary pillow fitting for you so that you can be confident that you are making the right choice.

Watch our video below to hear what advice Drs Martin and Kieran start with for anyone who is considering an updated pillow. If you'd prefer not to watch, the clip has been transcribed below.

Hi, Martin Harvey from Align Chiropractic here.

One of the most common questions that we get asked in practice is: “What sort of pillow should I be sleeping with?”

We have people coming in who have entire collections of pillows, made out of everything from feathers, through to the latest space-age materials, and they wonder:

“Why can't I find a pillow that’s comfortable for me?”

The first thing that we always want to make sure is that the pillow is the right size and the right fit for you.

Obviously some people are different sizes and there are also people who choose or are most comfortable in, different sleeping positions.

Make sure you check out our “which sleeping positions should you be using” video as well, but if you’re somebody who predominantly sleeps on your side, then you're going to need a larger pillow.

In side sleeping, the idea of the pillow would be to take up a significant amount of the space between your shoulder and your neck, so that it’s supporting your neck.

If it is not, when you’re sleeping on your side and it's too low, your pillow is going to force you to tip over quite a bit that way, and at the same time if it's too big for you, it's going to tend to tip you the other way.

If you're somebody who mainly sleeps on your back, then wanting to keep your head fairly balanced over your shoulder, you’re not going to want to big a pillow because a really big pillow is going to tend to force you forward quite a bit.

To that end, the type of pillow that typically is the best compromise if you're one of the many people who sleep a bit in both is a contoured pillow.

The contour allows the thicker part of your head when you're lying on your back to be in the contour and it also supports your neck without forcing you too far forward.

This is a low-profile pillow and this would be for somebody who primarily sleeps on their back or they're a smaller person who sleeps on their side.

If you're a bigger person who's a side sleeper, then you're going to want to go to a larger, higher profile pillow.

You can see here that it's much thicker than the other pillow, again it's the same basic structure.

So there you have it, a simple way of getting a bit of an idea of which pillow you should be using.

The most important first thing is that it's less about the material that it’s made from these ones are made out of latex which is a really comfortable and durable material but the most important thing is to make sure you get the right size based on how big you are, as well as your preferred sleeping position.

Kieran Whelan 8/29/18 Kieran Whelan 8/29/18

Simple exercises for people with neck pain

If you have neck pain, tight shoulders or headaches that come from your neck then I suggest you watch the video below.

In the video I run you though some very simple movement exercises to keep you mobile, try and get your neck moving again and hopefully help make you more comfortable as you go through your day.

I have tried to keep them very quick and easy so that you can incorporate them into your day simply and without having to make it too obvious that you're doing them.

If you are concerned about your neck pain or you have any questions, or if you experience discomfort doing them, then please do not hesitate to get in contact with us.

As always, the video has been transcribed below, but I recommend you watch to get a demonstration...and to see me in my solo video debut. Enjoy.

Hi I'm Kieran from Align Chiropractic. I just wanted to run you through a quick exercise for getting your neck moving.

Now if you're somebody that suffers from neck pain, a tight neck or headaches that feel like they come from your neck then this video is for you.

One of the main group of exercises that we recommend for our clients regularly are to get their neck moving again.

It's really important that your neck range of motion is even to both sides, it should be pain free and it shouldn't feel too tight one side compared to the other.

The important thing to remember when doing these exercises is don't push through a pain barrier or push to the extremes of your motion.

What we are wanting to do is get to the point of restriction and just relax into that position.

So its very simple to do; first of all we're looking at rotation.

Turning your head to one side holding it at that point of restriction for three seconds come back to the middle then turning the other side.

You're looking for it to be even on both sides and pain-free, hold for three seconds, back to the middle.

Next we go straight to side, lateral flexion for three seconds, back to the middle and then to the right-hand side for three seconds and finally, back to the middle again.

Remember, it’s three seconds on each side and you cycle through all four of those five positions 5 times to keep things moving.

If you are finding a lot of restriction or are particularly uncomfortable on one side more than the other, that can be an indication of a more significant underlying imbalance.

If you are feeling that or have any concerns about how your body is moving, I'd recommend that you get on to us and let's figure out what's happening for you.