How to relax neck muscles: ways to relieve tension, exercises and recommendations of specialists

If your body is in an uncomfortable position for a long time, sitting for a long time, and not knowing how to relax the muscles of the neck, it will soon begin to strain and hurt. These negative consequences lead to cramping, malnutrition of the spine and even mental illness.

In the article, we will talk about how to relax the muscles of the neck.

Connecting bridge

In Eastern teachings, one can find the statement that the neck is a kind of bridge between the body and mind. That’s what they say because four of the six senses are in the head. It is the head that calculates the direction of bodily movements.

In Chinese medicine, it is believed that in the cervical-collar region there is a reflexogenic energy zone, which is responsible for brain activity and arm movement. The weight of the head is from four to eight kilograms. It is held by seven small cervical vertebrae, amotrized by cartilage. But there are as many as 32 cervical muscles that hold the head upright, promote movement and protect it. Four main arteries, eight of the largest nerves, as well as the spinal canal pass in this area. Through them, blood supply to the head, chest, and upper limbs is realized, and nervous activity is also regulated.

When the muscles of the neck and collar zone are overstressed, the functioning of the vessels and nerve endings is disrupted, the muscles do not receive the necessary amount of blood. As a result of this, headaches occur, and some stiffness appears in the shoulder girdle. Cervical muscle tension leads to the premature appearance of nasolabial and forehead wrinkles, swelling on the face, pinching of nerves in the spinal cord, which causes sciatica and other organs.

Trapezius strain relief

There are various ways to relax the muscles of the neck and shoulders. Let's start with the simplest exercises. To relieve tension from the trapezius muscle, first bring the chest forward, then raise the shoulders to the ears and let them fall, relaxing the muscles.

Before learning how to remove tension from the neck, learn to hold your head correctly. Pull the back of your head up as if your head were hanging on a thread attached to the crown of your head. The chin is slightly picked up on itself. This position is another way to relax the muscles of the head and neck. You can also get rid of the bad habit of bullying or, conversely, lower your head. In addition, the correct position of the head contributes to optimal breathing and support for a beautiful posture.

Relax your shoulders and pull the crown up. Feel the vertebrae in your neck stretch out. You can neatly and slightly turn your head. Then lower your head to your chest. Try to get your chin to the collarbone. Slowly turn your head to one or the other side, tilt it back so as to try to reach the bottom of the neck. Return to the position where the crown is suspended on the threads.

Remember the position of the neck and head during the day and repeat the exercise, and try to keep your head straight.

Gradually, you will learn a new habit, so that overall health will improve. This exercise will help not only people who just have a tired neck. With it, you will learn how to relax the muscles of the neck with osteochondrosis. Gymnastics in general contributes to this. Just all exercises should be performed with extreme caution.

Pain Relief Exercises

Having learned how to relax the muscles of the back and neck with a workout, you can sometimes get rid of pain in these areas. But, starting to gymnastics, you should first remove the discomfort. Otherwise, exercise can even intensify the pain. Sit on the edge of the bed, the surface of which does not bend. Lie on your back and raise your legs. Find a position in which the back muscles will be most comfortable, and stay in that position for a while. When standing up, try not to strain your lower back.

Neck Pain Exercise

To get rid of neck pain, do the following special exercises:

1. Slowly tilt your head forward to the stop, and then lean back.
2. Slowly turn your head in one and then in the other direction as far as possible.
3. They bow their heads alternately to their shoulders.
4. Bringing your hands against your forehead and resisting, you bend your head, fixing this position for several seconds; then, putting their hands on the back of the head, also overcoming the resistance, they overturn the head.
5. They take dumbbells up to two kilograms in their hands and keep their hands down, while slowly raising and lowering their shoulders.

Exercise with breathing

They gather air in their mouth and, holding their breath, bow their heads. Then raise and lower the shoulders several times. Return to the starting position and exhale. The exercise is repeated two more times.

Hands clenched into fists, stretch forward, bend the knees slightly and with a breath make a circular movement of the hands. On exhalation, the arms are bent at the elbows, pressing them to the sides. Exercise is done three times.

They sit in a pose in Turkish. Hands are locked in the back of the head. The head is lowered on inhalation and raised on exhalation. Slopes are repeated ten times.

Without changing their posture, they tilt their heads. On inspiration - tilt, on exhalation - initial position. The inclinations are repeated ten times in one direction and the other.

Relaxation

Extremely effective will be relaxation sessions. Do them daily, and soon you will easily learn how to relax the muscles of the neck. Ways to relieve stress are effective not only for the neck, but also for other parts of the body.

For a session, pick up calm and pleasant music, dress in comfortable clothes and lie on your back.

It’s good to add breathing exercises to relaxation . Breathe freely and calmly, but after exhaling, try to hold your breath a little. Do not overdo it. When performing the exercise, it is very important that your breath remains free and that you can continue to relax.

Massage

Masseurs know well how to relax the muscles of the neck. But those with whom it hurts can easily massage themselves.

To do this, you first need to stand up and straighten your back, put your hands on the back of your neck and make stroking movements from top to bottom. Gradually you can add a little bit of intensity and effort. If there are spasms on the neck, then painful sensations will be felt. You can’t push too hard.

Then the hands are transferred to the forearm area, without stopping massaging movements. The trapezius muscles need to be taken in any case, even if you are worried about the pain in only one place on the neck. Usually muscle tension is found along the entire length. Therefore, do not be surprised if during the massage you feel pain on the forearm as well.

After this zone, you should go to the back of the head, at the junction of the neck and head. Since in modern life many people move little, cramping in this part is quite common. Often they are surprised to find stiffness and tension in this zone.

After that, they return to the neck and pay attention to it, and then again go to the back of the head. Find the indentations at the base of the head and massage them. At the end, the scalp is massaged.

Massage is performed by stroking, squeezing, patting and vibrating movements. If you were looking for how to relax the deep muscles of the neck, then this is the way that will help you.

Prevention

In addition to exercises, do not forget about other methods that help how to relax the muscles of the neck. We will describe them.

1. If you train the abs, do not gain excess weight and monitor posture, this will significantly reduce the load on the back and make the muscles stronger. It will be easier to keep the head upright and prevent it from leaning forward.
2. When seated, do not bend close to the table. Equip yourself with a convenient place, take a break every hour to change your body position.
3. Rest your neck muscles so that they do not swell from an unchanged position.
4. Even in the process of doing simple exercises for the neck.
5. Do not put your ear in your shoulder with the handset.
6. Do not comb your head with your head back too far.
7. The neck may become ill due to an uneven mattress or a very large pillow, or because of an uncomfortable posture at night. It is best to choose a hard mattress and a small pillow for sleeping.

Conclusion

In order not to keep stress in yourself, take it off by walking in the park in the evening. Take a warm relaxing shower and enjoy herbal tea with honey. Then the dream will be healthy. And the neck will rest well.