Who doesn’t love summer? Outdoor living, vacations, trips to the beach and wearing shorts and sandals while eating copious amounts of ice cream are only some of the joys of the season.
Now that it’s here, the last thing you want to deal with is neck pain. It sucks!
While this brief and beautiful season is upon us, you want to feel your best. You don’t need to be sidelined while everyone else is getting in their summer fun – you want to join in. But if you’ve had neck problems in the past, you may even be afraid to jump in the lake for fear of an old injury rearing its ugly head.
And that’s no way to live.
Get pro-active
If you’re living in fear of an old injury ruining your summer, then it’s time to get pro-active. Even if you’re physically active, you may not have spent a lot of time on conditioning your neck and protecting it with simple stretches. These are genuinely helpful in supporting your neck against injury.
Here are some simple stretches to help you strengthen your neck, followed by some posture tweaks:
- Sitting upright in a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your arms at your sides, raise your chin slowly, until it’s pointed at the ceiling. Next, repeat the process downward, until your chin is resting on your chest. Repeat 3 times.
- In the same chair, look slowly right. Hold for a count of 10. Repeat on the left.
- Standing, turn your head to the right, now (leading with your chin), make a half circle across your chest, until you’re looking to the left. Repeat 3 times, slowly and deliberately.
As to your posture, it’s essential that you avoid “poking chin”. This posture challenge results in your shoulders slumping as your chin pokes forward. Because this position throws your cervical vertical out of alignment, when not corrected it can result in conditions as serious as kyphosis (hump back), which may lead to fracturing of the implicated vertebrae.
Being aware of how you’re standing and sitting is one of the best ways to protect your neck. If you’re unsure about how sound your posture is, you should be coming to see me. I can help you correct the problem and even adjust you while you’re at it.
Get moving
Stretching and maintaining good posture are great places to start in terms of keeping your neck safe and strong. But exercise is one of the best things you can do in this regard.
If you’re not active and you have neck pain, it’s time to think about how you can control issues occasioned by old injuries or ongoing posture challenges with exercise. Again, as a chiropractor, I can help you find the right activity to support the health of your neck.
Neck pain – not this summer! Not when you’re prepared to be pro-active and get moving to enjoy all the things about summer you love, without fear and without reservation.
Contact me. Let’s talk about keeping your neck healthy!
