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To STOP Neck Pain, You Need To Fix THIS!
- chelsie462
- Oct 9
- 8 min read
This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in August 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/A1YQkKC504I
Mike: Have you been dealing with neck pain on and off for years, and you're not sure what else to try?
Brad: We're going to explain how neck pain can easily be caused by the scapula or the shoulder blade.
Mike: We're going to be talking about neck pain and the shoulder blade, so time for an anatomy lesson from Brad.
Brad: That's right. We mentioned, or I mentioned, that neck pain can come from the shoulder blade, specifically from being depressed or down too far. This represents the muscle that connects his shoulder blade to the neck. There are a couple of them. There's more than just one. But what happens is the shoulder blade goes down, the muscle stretches, and it causes pain in the neck area. If we can get the shoulder blade to go back up where it belongs, taking the stress off that muscle, neck pain can go away.
Mike: So we're going to get into four different tips here. A couple of them are stretches, and some of them are practical everyday tips.
Brad: That's right. Now, the first stretch is we need to get the latissimus dorsi, which does, if it's tight, we'll help pull that scapula in a downward position where we do not want it. Mike, this is an easy stretch. Show them how.
Mike: Yes, it's actually a passive shoulder stretch. We will show another variation if you can't get on your knees, like I am. So what I'm going to do is put my feet together, knees out wide, and I'm going to start sitting my butt on my heels and keeping my shoulders in the same place. If I'm not getting much stretch, I can crawl forward a little bit, like this. We're going to breathe and relax. This is going to stretch those lat muscles, which could be tight in pulling that shoulder blade down. Hold it for roughly five breaths, or 30 seconds, and we're going to come back up. We're going to repeat this five to 10 times.
Mike: Now, if you have one side that's more problematic than the other, say, my left side is, I'm going to reach over to my right, get more of a stretch there again, breathe and relax, and then come back up.
Brad: That's right. That really helps get that shoulder blade where it needs to be. Again, Mike said if you're having problems or it's not comfortable for you to go on your hands and knees, simply go up to a table like this. Mike, could you see if that towel's over there? Sit on a chair. If you have one that has wheels, it's better yet. But we'll show you both ways with a stationary chair as well. If you're on a table, a nice smooth table, simply take a towel of some sort, put it there. And this is if you have no wheels on your chair. A lot of kitchen tables don't have it. So then what we're going to do is be here, the chair will be stationary, and simply slide your hands across. That's what the towel does to allow that stretch. And I'm feeling that stretch right where Mike talked about it and do that, like he said, up to five repetitions or more. If I go over to one side, that will stretch my right lat even more.
Brad: If you do have one with wheels, you can keep your hands stationary and simply go out with the chair and come back up for the same number of reps and time. I'm feeling stretched, Mike. What's the next one?
Mike: We're going to get into exercise number two. You're going to need a wall or door for this one. It's just simply going to be sliding your arm up the wall. This is going to help teach the muscles on top of your shoulder blade, either your levator scapula or upper traps, to help engage again to get your shoulder back in place when you're doing overhead activities. So, I'm going to work on my left side here. I'm going to place my pinky and my elbow on the wall. And I'm going to slide up as far as I comfortably can. If you are stuck here feeling pain, that's fine. Stop there, come back down. The goal is to eventually try to get up as high as you can. As I go up, I lean into the wall like this. I'm going to hold it roughly 15, 30 seconds, or three to five breaths, depending upon how you want to count. And I'm going to come back down. It's important to keep your lats engaged when I'm pulling back down. So when I'm pulling down, I'm actually squeezing my lat muscle as well. So we're stretching and engaging all the muscles in the shoulder complex there.
Brad: Right, when you get up to this point, think about moving that shoulder blade up, and that helps get these muscles up here that pull it up to activate a little bit stronger to make the exercise more effective.
Mike: Now, you could try this on both sides just to compare and say, both sides are kind of rough, and you enjoy the stretch. Personally, at home, I'll do both at the same time because it just saves me time when I'm doing this exercise.
Brad: There you go. The next exercise is important for posture, because posture is also critical to keep the shoulder and the scapula in place where they need to be. Good posture, posture, posture. This one, you're going to take one hand, put it on your sternum. The other hand on your abdomen. And what we're trying to avoid is when people try to have good posture, they pull and squeeze their shoulder blades back together. And that's not what we're looking for. We want to think about bringing the rib cage up towards the ceiling, and that elevates the shoulders. And then your shoulders will be completely relaxed. We're here and here, think about it, and then you could just palpate your stomach muscles, and you're not going to feel them contract too much. They will do a little bit. But once we get here, the shoulders should be relaxed while we have that good posture as opposed to squeezing them back. Anything more to add with that, Mike?
Mike: The purpose of this is to engage your core or your abs. That's what keeps your trunk upright. If you're upright in good posture, it's pretty easy for your core just to sit here. If you try to squeeze your shoulder blades back all day, you're going to get fatigued or just have cramps in your shoulder blades. So, just a simple technique, hold it here for a few breaths, then relax and keep this engaged.
Brad: This is something you can do throughout the day when you're sitting, just to remind yourself that that posture's good, and over time it becomes a habit.
Mike: So we're going to go into the last tip, tip number four. And that is positioning when you're seated. Now, if you're in a normal chair like I am without an elevating armrest here, you're stuck in this position. It may feel comfortable for you, but if you have a sore shoulder, you might want to get some pressure off it by elevating it and relaxing it. So I am stuck here. Can't go any higher. What you can do is simply take some pillows, fold them into the side that is problematic, and look how much higher this is, supporting my arm while I'm sitting, taking pressure off of that shoulder blade and your neck. So, decreasing the amount of pain you might be having in your neck region.
Brad: That's right. This happens to be one of the things that Bob, with this protocol, felt gave him the most pain relief in his neck, just by having his arm supported while he was working at the computer.
Mike: Now, if you have a computer chair with adjustable armrests and you can pitch the angle high enough, you can certainly use that. That's perfectly fine as well.
Brad: That's right. Some people have those who are not aware of it. Push the little button, pull it up, adjust it to fit your body.
Mike: So those are all four tips. Make sure to do all of them. Don't just try one because they all work together. Try them for a few weeks and see how your headaches and neck pain feel.
Brad: That's right. This is one of those things that's not only going to help with your neck. You'll all of a sudden notice, Oh, I used to have neck pain while I was working here. And it also helped your breathing and other things as well. Low back, upper neck, upper, everything. It's really posture, posture, posture.
Mike: Now, if you want to check out more videos, this one specifically is more on headaches, which are very common with neck pain. You can check out the video "Stop Your Headaches NOW. A NEW Approach that May Surprise You. (NeuroScience)," and also comment on your favorite Brad quote of the day.
Brad: Yeah.
Mike: What is it?
Brad: Strong, like a bull. Tall, like a mountain. Whatever you want. It's a family show. How about that one?
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