Cervical Mobility Work

Hi everyone, Dr. Andy here with
Northstar Spine. Welcome to the cervical
mobility routine. This routine will be a
great additive to your chiropractic care
and you should start doing this as often
as you can. You can do this daily, but I
would shoot for a minimum of about three
times per week to help work on those
tight muscles around your neck. Now, I’m
going to show you a great way to make a
small mobility tool for home. You’ll
take two tennis balls and you’ll take a
sock. Those tennis balls will be put in
the sock and you can just pull them all
the way to the end of the sock and then
you’re just going to make a knot.
This here will give you a great little
tool to work on the tightness in the
muscles of your spine. Um you can see
here it almost is like a mobility ball
like that. You can get one of these. Um
but if you want something very simple,
this is what I’d recommend doing here.
Now, the other thing you’re going to
need for this is a foam roller. And
we’re going to start by using the foam
roller on our thoracic spine, which is
our mid to upper back region. What we’re
going to do here is you’re going to put
the the foam roller down on the ground,
and you’re going to sit on your butt,
and you’re going to start the foam
roller right at the bottom of your rib
cage here. You don’t want to be in your
low back. There’s not enough stability
here to help support you when you’re on
this roller. So, you want to start at
the bottom of the rib cage. Put your
hands behind your head to help support
your neck. Lift your butt up and you’re
going to roll from the bottom of your
rib cage up through your upper back and
then back down.
You’re going to go up and down
for about two minutes. Now, if you find
an area in that thoracic spine that
feels extra tight, you can drop your
butt down and then stretch backwards to
help release the tension in that part of
your spine. Now, again, after about two
minutes, about all we need in this area.
You can go ahead and get rid of that
foam roller.
From there, you’re going to take your
tennis ball mobility tool. You’re going
to lay on your back and you’re going to
put these right behind your neck. It’s
your neck. It’s called the sub occipital
region of the spine. And you’re going to
tuck your chin in and push your head
down into those two tennis balls. As you
hold pressure here, you can rock your
head side to side just gently. And
that’s going to create more pressure on
those tight muscles under your neck.
Now, if you experience migraines or
tension headaches, this is going to give
you a ton of relief.
Most of us have a forward head posture,
and that causes these tight muscles here
to really become short and cause stress
on the nerves that come out between the
skull and the spine. So, you’ll go back
and forth for about two minutes on this
exercise, and then we’ll move on to the
next one. Now, from here, you can go
ahead and stand up. take your mobility
tool and then find a wall. So, you’ll
find a wall and we’re going to work on
our upper trap muscles. Your upper traps
basically go from your neck down into
your shoulders. And a lot of us have big
knots right up in here. So, what you’re
going to do is you’re going to take your
mobility tool. You’re going to put it
right behind your upper trap muscle and
you’re going to back up to a wall. What
you’re going to do is you’re going to
rock side to side and up and down and
just use those two tennis balls to work
out the knots in the tight muscles of
your upper back. Now, as you go through
here, this is going to give you a ton of
relief. And again, you may get a little
sore after this because of all the knots
and tension you’re breaking up into
those muscles. The next thing you want
to do after you do all your mobility
work is work on stretching your spine.
Okay? So you can sit on the chair, you
can sit on a couch, and you want to find
an anchor for your opposite hand. So you
can sit on your hand or you can kind of
grab the side of the chair. You’re going
to drop your ear to the opposite
shoulder looking straight ahead and just
pull that ear down causing a nice deep
stretch through the side of your neck.
You’re going to hold this for 30
seconds. And then you’re going to go to
the opposite side. Now from there,
you’re going to do the levator scapula
muscle. It’s a muscle that’s responsible
for shrugging your shoulders. And a lot
of us are caught into this position on a
regular basis and this muscle can become
very very tight.
So same thing, you’re going to anchor
down your arm. That’s going to pull your
shoulder blade down and you’re going to
turn your head. So turn and then look
down into your armpit. On the opposite
side, use your hand. Pull your chin down
into your chest.
You’re going to hold this for another 30
seconds. And then switch sides. And
after that, we’re going to work on
stretching your upper back. And the way
you do this is you interace your fingers
in front of you. You’re going to reach
forward, drop your head, and then kind
of round your upper back. You’re going
to hold here
for another 30 seconds.
It’ll help to stretch your rhomboid
muscles, your traps, and your middle
back. Now, we’ve got three great
stretches, three great mobility
exercises, and the combination of these
things will help to start working on the
muscles around your spine. If you have
any questions about this routine, please
let us know on your next visit.
Otherwise, I hope you found some great
value. Thanks.