Neck Pain Support Blog

Morning Stretches for a Pain-Free Day: Neck Exercises to Start Your Day Right

Certainly! Morning stretches can be beneficial for relieving tension and promoting flexibility, especially in the neck and shoulders. Here are some gentle neck exercises you can incorporate into your morning routine for a pain-free day:

1. Neck Tilts:

   • Sit or stand up straight with your shoulders relaxed.
   • Slowly tilt your head to one side, bringing your ear toward your shoulder.
   • Hold the stretch for 15-30 seconds.
   • Repeat on the other side.

2. Neck Rotation:

   • Keep your spine straight and shoulders relaxed.
   • Turn your head to one side, bringing your chin over your shoulder.
   • Hold for 15-30 seconds.
   • Repeat on the other side.

3. Neck Flexion and Extension:

   • Slowly lower your chin towards your chest, feeling a stretch along the back of your neck.
   • Hold for 15-30 seconds.
   • Gently tilt your head backward, looking toward the ceiling.
   • Hold for 15-30 seconds.

4. Shoulder Rolls:

   • Sit or stand with your back straight.
   • Roll your shoulders in a circular motion, first forward for 10-15 seconds, and then backward for 10-15 seconds.
   • This helps release tension in the neck and upper back.

5. Chin Tucks:

   • Sit or stand with your spine straight.
   • Gently tuck your chin toward your chest, creating a double chin.
   • Hold for 10-15 seconds, feeling a stretch in the back of your neck.

6. Side-to-Side Neck Stretch:

   • Sit or stand with your back straight.
   • Slowly tilt your head to one side, bringing your ear toward your shoulder.
   • Place the hand on the opposite side of your head and apply gentle pressure.
   • Hold for 15-30 seconds and repeat on the other side.

Check out all of these Easy Neck Stretches on Insta @Arc4lifeHealth

Remember to perform these stretches slowly and gently. If you feel any pain or discomfort, stop the stretch and consult with a healthcare professional. Additionally, it's always a good idea to consult with a healthcare provider before starting any new exercise routine, especially if you have pre-existing conditions or concerns about your neck and spine.

Additional Reading:

• Check out these 6 simple stretches on Instagram
• Chilin with Cold Therapy at Home
• Causes of neck pain you might not think of
• Arc4life Twist Pillow works great for patients who are travelling or for kids in the car
• Contoured Kids Pillows Designed for Smaller Cervical Spines
• Breathing Exercises for Pain Relief and Overall Health
• Change up the loft of your pillow easily
• Upper Back Stretches you can do anywhere

 

 

Using Cold Therapy For Neck Pain

 

Cold Therapy, also known as cryotherapy, can be a helpful and commonly used method for managing neck pain, particularly when it's due to inflammation or acute injuries. Cold therapy works by constricting blood vessels, reducing blood flow to the affected area, and decreasing inflammation and pain. Here are several ways cold therapy can be applied for neck pain relief:

1. Cold Packs/Ice Packs:

   • Application: Apply a cold pack to the cervical and upper back area or ice pack wrapped in a thin cloth to the affected area for about 15-20 minutes.
   • Frequency: Repeat every 1-2 hours, especially during the first 48 hours after the onset of neck pain or injury.

2. Cold Compress:

   • DIY Option: You can create a cold compress by placing ice cubes in a plastic bag or using a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a thin towel.
   • Application: Apply the cold compress to the neck for the recommended duration.

3. Cold Gel:

   • Application: Cold gel packs or patches can be applied directly to the neck for a convenient and mess-free cold therapy option.

4. Topical Analgesic Gels or Creams:

   • Application: Some over-the-counter gels or creams contain ingredients like menthol or camphor that produce a cooling sensation when applied to the skin.
   • Benefits: These products can provide a mild cooling effect and may be combined with other therapies for enhanced relief.

5. Cold Water Immersion:

   • Application: Cold water immersion involves submerging the affected area in cold water, such as in an ice bath or cold water pool.
   • Caution: This method should be done cautiously to avoid frostbite, and it's usually not recommended for the neck due to the sensitivity of the area.

6. Cold Massage:

   • Application: Some massage therapists use cold massage tools or ice massage techniques to apply cold therapy while massaging the neck.
   • Caution: Cold massage should be done carefully to avoid prolonged exposure and potential skin damage.

When using cold therapy for neck pain relief, it's important to keep the following considerations in mind:

• Limit Duration: Avoid applying cold therapy for more than 20 minutes at a time to prevent skin damage.

• Use a Barrier: Always wrap ice packs or cold compresses in a thin towel or cloth to prevent direct contact with the skin.

• Check Skin Sensation: Regularly check the skin for signs of numbness or excessive cold, and discontinue use if skin irritation occurs.

• Consult a Healthcare Professional: If neck pain persists or worsens, it's advisable to consult with a healthcare professional to rule out underlying issues and determine the most appropriate course of treatment.

Cold therapy can be an effective component of a comprehensive approach to managing neck pain, especially in the early stages of acute injuries or inflammation. However, it's essential to use it judiciously and in conjunction with other appropriate treatments as recommended by a healthcare provider.

 

Additional Reading:

• Chilin with Cold Therapy at Home
• Causes of neck pain you might not think of
• Arc4life Twist Pillow works great for patients who are travelling or for kids in the car
• Contoured Kids Pillows Designed for Smaller Cervical Spines
• Arc4life's Linear Gravity Neck Pillow- Small Size for Toddlers, Teens and Petite Individuals
• Change up the loft of your pillow easily
• Upper Back Stretches you can do anywhere

The Connection Between Sleep and Neck Pain

Are you tossing and turning at night , and just cannot get into a comfortable sleep position because of your neck pain. Sleep is essential in the context of neck pain:

1. Muscle Recovery and Relaxation

Sleep is a time when our bodies go into repair mode. During deep sleep stages, muscles, including those in the neck, have an opportunity to relax and recover. When you get enough quality sleep, it helps ease muscle tension and soreness, providing relief from neck pain.

 

2. Proper Pillow and Mattress Support

The choice of your pillow and mattress can significantly impact your neck health. A supportive pillow and mattress help maintain proper spinal alignment, reducing the risk of waking up with neck pain. It's crucial to select the right type of pillow and mattress that suits your sleeping position and comfort preferences. 

3. Reducing Inflammation

Inflammatory processes can contribute to neck pain such as stiffness in the neck. Adequate sleep helps regulate inflammation in the body, which can alleviate pain and discomfort in the neck area.

4. Improving Blood Circulation

Sleep is essential for proper blood circulation, delivering nutrients and oxygen to the muscles and tissues in the neck. Improved blood flow helps repair any damaged areas and reduces pain.

5. Posture Correction

Sleep is a time when your body is free from the demands of gravity and everyday activities. Sleeping in the right position can help your neck maintain its natural alignment, preventing strain and discomfort. It's crucial to pay attention to your sleeping posture and ensure it is ergonomic and comfortable.

Additional Reading:

• Causes of neck pain you might not think of
• Arc4life Twist Pillow works great for patients who are travelling or for kids in the car
• Contoured Kids Pillows Designed for Smaller Cervical Spines
• Change up the loft of your pillow easily
• Upper Back Stretches you can do anywhere

How Back and Neck Pain Can be Helped when You Travel

It's July 4th and how are you spending the holiday? Are you driving this holiday or taking a plane trip somewhere? Chances are covid-19 has somehow affected your plans. Personally, we are doing a staycation. My son and I tested out a new golf club this morning and later we are doing a July 4th bbq with close family. Staying put and staying safe. Enjoying fireworks from our back lanai tonight !

Happy July 4th from the Neck Pain Support Blog

How can back and neck pain affect travel? In many many ways actually. It can make it  nightmare and cause you to have a flare up sometimes. Here are some great tips to help you with your travel plans- whether doing a staycation or going somewhere.

First, taking breaks is very important. The act of sitting can put a lot of stress on your joints, on your back and even your neck. Sitting in one place while driving, or on the computer can aggravate back and neck pain. Hence, standing up and moving around can make a big difference. Making a plan to get up every 15-20 minutes to get a drink of water is a great idea. Plan on stopping at a rest stop no matter what. Just stretching and moving can make such a big difference if you have neck and back pain.

Using pillows to your advantage can make a big difference. For both the back and the neck, use contoured neck and back pillows. For example using a lumbar pillow while sitting in the car for long periods or when you are on the computer, can help.

 

A lumbar pillow can make long car trip more comfortable for your lower back.

 

 

Just like using a pillow for lower back can help, same goes for your cervical spine. Using a cervical contoured neck pillow for sleep can also make a huge difference for optimal posture while sleeping on your side or back. The Arc4life Traction Pillow is a good example of pillow with curves that fit the shape of your neck. It is important to order the right size of a pillow like this. This arc4life pillow comes in 3 sizes: small, medium and large. 

A Contoured Neck Pillow at Night Can Keep Your Neck in Alignment While Sleeping

 

Next, doing neck and back stretches can go a long way to keep comfortable. Never to the point of pain, just to the point that you feel a stretch is the key. These are great stretches for the hips, neck, back and shoulders.

Effective stretches for the hips, neck, back and shoulders.

There you go: 3 simple things you can do to enjoy your staycation or TRAVEL away from home.

 

Additional Reading:

• Causes of neck pain you might not think of
• Arc4life Twist Pillow works great for patients who are travelling or for kids in the car
• Contoured Kids Pillows Designed for Smaller Cervical Spines
• Arc4life's Linear Gravity Neck Pillow- Small Size for Toddlers, Teens and Petite Individuals
• Change up the loft of your pillow easily
• Upper Back Stretches you can do anywhere

 

Neck Support Is Always Needed No Matter the Age

I think 2020 will go down in history for many reasons. With the recent covid-19 pandemic, my child hasn't been able to play soccer, basketball or baseball. He loves all of his team sports.

 

Thankfully, he has been able to play golf at our local course. Its a great individual sport that that they can grow, be athletic and be outside with their peers. I've also learned there is a lot of equipment sized perfectly for the younger beginner golfers. Clubs that are lighter, easier to swing and color coded for their height. The US Kids Golf does a great job of fitting kids for golf clubs.

 

There are even training products designed to help improve your swing. For example, the orange whip golf  swing trainer. A long stick that resembles a golf club but has a weighted orange ball at the end of it. This "golf swing trainer" helps  to  improve range of motion in ones swing, balance, and flexibility. All important aspects of an optimal golf swing. I had tested this orange whip out at a golf clinic myself a few years back. Then a friend sent a link for the junior version: a flexible shaft, a smaller diameter grip and lighter weights on each end- perfect for my junior beginner golfer to improve his swing.

 

 

Just like the orange whip golf swing trainer, my kids have a smaller baseball glove, smaller golf clubs - generally smaller kid versions to help them play optimally. Makes sense. 

Well Arc4life has kids pillows. Why? Because kids have smaller spines, smaller curves in their neck and need pillows that are proportionally smaller. For instance, my son a contoured neck pillow for sleeping every night- the arc4life cervical traction pillow (its comes in a small, medium and large. The small pillow is smaller in length, width and thickness: 20x15 vs the medium size which is 24x17. There is a big difference in all the dimensions of the pillow. It is ergonomically designed for the size of his little neck and gives him the support he needs for great posture while he sleeps (on his back or on his side). If children use adult pillows that are too large, the pillows can cause forward head posture,  pushing their head and neck forward. My son loves his pillow so much that if he goes for a sleepover at his grandparents, we pack his pillow with him as well: It's essential.

 

Also, you can get kids pillows for neck support in the car and for travel as well. Here is an example of a twist pillow made of memory foam that can be used for kids while they are in the car.

 

Memory Foam Twist Pillow

 

Additional Reading:

• Orange Whip Full-Sized Golf Swing Trainer Aid - for Improved Rhythm, Flexibility, Balance, Tempo, and Strength - 47”
• Arc4life Twist Pillow works great for patients who are travelling or for kids in the car
• Contoured Kids Pillows Designed for Smaller Cervical Spines
• Arc4life's Linear Gravity Neck Pillow- Small Size for Toddlers, Teens and Petite Individuals
• Kids need their own backpacks too.

Relieving Pain in the Upper Back with Stretches

We are in the midst of some crazy times now with the Sars-COV2 pandemic hitting all over the world. That means many people (adults and kids included) are at home, stuck to the TV, ipads, iphones and all things digital. We were trying to get away from such things as text neck, but now we cannot get away from the devices. 

Often times we concentrate on exercises for neck and lower back pain; Well the upper back area should not be ignored: This is an area that can be affected often times by text neck or spending too much time on the computer.

You can easily stretch your upper back using a device created specifically for the upper thoracic area of your spine:

This particular back stretcher can be used for the upper back and the lower back area; you simply lay on the device and feel the stretch. This can help to relieve upper back pain, as well as help to improve posture. 

Here is a great video that introduces 7 upper back stretches that can help you everyday.

They include an:

Eagle Pose, Side lateral stretch, upper trapezius stretch, levator scapulae stretch, table stretch, thoracic extension and W and Y stretch:

 

Additional Reading:

• The Switchboard that controls everything
• Wake up with More Pain
• How does Traction work on a Traction V Pillow
• Keeping at a healthy weight naturally
• Exercises to Help you with neck pain

I have chronic neck stiffness .What is a good way to relieve pain and stiffness?

I recently got this question about chronic stiff neck: 

Dear Neck Pain Support, 

I have chronic neck stiffness .What is a good way to relieve pain and stiffness?

- Raj

Dear Raj,

Great question. So many people suffer with a stiffness in their necks that they have had for a long time. My advice to you is to do regular neck exercises.

Doing these exercises can really help your mobility in your cervical spine. You have work at this everyday and start very slowly. Otherwise you will just aggravate your neck and cause more stiffness and pain.

You can do these neck exercises in the shower when you first wake up in the morning. It involves gentle movements in 6 directions. You must do all of it very gently. 

1. Very gently bring your head forward (chin to your chest), hold for 5–10 seconds
2. Then bring your head back (look up to the ceiling), hold for 5–10 seconds.
3. Bring your right ear to your right shoulder, hold for 5–10 seconds
4. Bring your left ear to your left shoulder, hold for 5–10 seconds
5. Turn your head to the left, hold for 5–10 seconds
6. Turn your head to the right, hold for for 5–10 seconds.

If you have pain in any one of these directions, ease off and do that motion with less tension. For example, if you have pain when you turn your bring your head forward (chin to your chest), don’t bring your head forward all the all the way. Just do it to the point that you start to feel pain, then stop. You will notice that if you do this stretching exercise daily, your range of motion will slowly start to increase. Incidentally, your neck pain will start to decrease as well.

Simple Neck Stretches that Can Help a Stiff Neck

Also, if you do this stretching exercise first thing in the morning, you can let warm/hot water hit your neck muscles while you stretch. This actually feels very good and can help your stretching.

If you cannot do this in the morning, you can also apply a warm moist heating pack to your head and neck muscles and then proceed with this exercise. 

Finally, get a supportive neck pillow for sleeping. This makes a huge huge difference every night. My suggestion is the arc4life cervical linear traction neck pillow because it provides excellent cervical support and gives you the C curve that you need in your neck when you sleep (for both side and back sleeping).

You can also use the arc4life pillow for a gentle neck stretch. Just lay on the traction V Side for 20-25 minutes on your back. A very therapeutic stretch that can relieve pain.

Additional Reading: 

• Information about the Arc4life cervical traction neck pillow
• Spinal Nerve Chart - understanding where your neck pain is coming from
• I have a stiff neck, a straight neck and shoulder pain
• Don't get a stiff neck when you travel

 

 

For Women, Lack of Sleep Affects Their Working Memory, Study Shows

We’ve all had sleepless nights in our life. Every once in a while your baby can’t sleep well, you drank too much coffee, you have to pull an all nighter, or you are just very restless and can’t get to sleep.

A new study shows that when sleep deprivation occurs, it affects women’s working memory worse for women than men.

What is Working Memory? They use the term working memory to refers to us being able to remember information for short time frames, and also be able to make decisions and complete tasks. Basically doing a few tasks at the same time. 

Prior research has shown that working memory is affected negatively when we do not sleep.

A new study showed how not sleeping well impacts our working memory. This study was done by the Department of Neuroscience at Upsalla University in Sweden (led by  Frida Rångtell, a Ph.D. student). In particular the study wanted to show how lack of sleep affects men and women differently, in particular there working memory.

The study was reported in the findings in the Journal of Sleep Research.

In this study there was a total of 24 young adults 12 men and 12 women and each of them completed a memory test one week apart. There were two groups:

1. One group took a test after a full night of sleep (8 hours of sleep) 
2. The second group of people took the test after an entire night of sleep loss.

The memory test required the participants to remember an eight-digit sequence of numbers. Each subject repeated the test 16 times, and the team used their average scores to estimate their working memory performance.

The researchers study showed that a night of sleep loss had no effect on the working memory of men. But the result was very different for the women in the study. The woman in the studies' working memory  was reduced. 

Rångtell and his team say that this result may be a concern for women. "Working memory is central in cognitive functioning and key to perform[ing] efficiently and effectively in academic, professional, and social settings," they write in their paper. The researchers said that this represents a ricks factor for harmful accident and mistakes that can happen when women don’t sleep enough."

Source: Staying up all night harms women's working memory

Additional Reading:

• Sleep Deprivation Can affect  your brain and mind
• Are you Waking up with a Stiff Neck Every Morning?
• Quality of Sleep vs Quantity of SLeep-  Yes there is a difference
• What is the right amount of sleep for our body for optimal functioning
• Get the right pillow for better sleep every night

 

What Are Some Ways to Improve Your Posture?

 

Ways to Improve Your Head and Neck Posture

 

 

Ways to Improve Posture:

• Watch how you use your cell phone. Don’t look down at it constantly. This adds a lot of extra pounds to your head and neck that you are carrying around, thus leading to neck pain, midback pain and headaches
• Don’t sleep on your stomach - this contorts your head and neck in such a way that it puts pressure on vital ligaments and nerves in the neck
• Sleep with a contoured neck pillow at night. A pillow that aligns your head and neck whether you are sleeping on your back or on your side
• Watch how you sit: When you drive, when you watch TV, when you use the computer. Are you slouching? Is your head forward?
• Do head retraction exercises to help improve your posture and train yourself to have ideal posture no matter where you are

Updated: 4/24/2020

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How do you Train Myself to Change my sleep position from stomach to side?

How do I train myself to change my sleep position from stomach to side? I am starting to develop lower back pain.

This is a great question. Not the easiest fix, because it does require some effort on your part. But it is possible to change your sleeping position. 

Many people wake up with neck pain, stiffness, muscle spasms and low back pain all because of their sleeping positions. If you are a stomach sleeper, consider changing how you sleep. Sleep with a pillow under your stomach. You can get a stomach pillow (see picture below, the teardrop pillow) or you can use a flat fiber filled pillow. You can also sleep with a body pillow. So technically your body thinks you are on your side, but your body will feel like you are sleeping on your stomach.

If you are a stomach sleeper, this is one way to change your sleeping position

The Tear Drop Pillow Can be Used by Stomach Sleepers

Good for you, for realizing that you need to train yourself to sleep on your side vs your stomach. 

Any chiropractor will tell you to stop sleeping on your stomach. It is not healthy for your head and neck. Not good for your posture and alignment. Not good for your muscles. Hope this helps.

Updated: 4/24/2020