How to Do an Effective Chin Tuck Exercise for Neck Pain and Strengthen Neck Muscles

If experience neck pain, we all know that you want to get rid of it as soon as you can. One of the ways of relieving neck way is to have some exercise. And among these exercises is doing a proper chin tuck. But first, before jumping how to do the chin tuck, let’s understand why we experience neck pain and how this exercise can help your condition.

Why we experience neck pain?

There are vertebrae that extend from the skull up to the upper torso which made up our neck. Also, there are cervical discs absorbing shock between the bones. Then the bones, ligaments, and muscles within the neck support the head and making it possible to execute a movement. But, when there is an issue, inflammation, or injury in this area. it can lead to neck pain or stiffness.

Neck pain can occur due to various reasons. Among the major causes of neck pain are the following:

• This may happen due to muscle tension and strain caused by posture, sitting too long, sleeping in a bad position, or overdoing your neck during exercise.
• Caused by injuries such as car accidents, or sports injuries. It may happen when the muscles and ligaments within the neck moved outside its normal range.
• It can also be a symptom of a heart attack but often comes with the following: shortness of breath. nausea, sweating, vomiting, having neck, or arm pain. if this will be the case, immediate care is needed.
• This can be a symptom of meningitis which is an inflammation of thin tissue surrounding the brain and the spinal cord. Seek immediate care if you have experienced its symptoms.
• It can also be a symptom of other conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, or spinal stenosis.

Most of the people that may experience neck pain or stiffness occasionally due to muscle tension and sprain. But, if it is something serious and last more than a week or is severe, medical care is needed.

How can Chin Tuck Exercise help you with Your Neck Problems?

A chin tuck exercise is best for neck pain caused by muscle tension and strain. It’s a key exercise recommended in keeping the head aligned above the spine. When doing it regularly and by doing it right it can provide relief to neck pain. Also, it can aid the neck’s improvement – gaining strength, flexibility, and function.

When poor posture is one of the major cause of your neck pain, a chin tuck exercise can help in the following:

• It helps you to strengthen your deep cervical flexors, lower cervical extensors, and your other muscles (or the front of your neck muscles) that make your head aligned above the spine
• It also stretches your scalene muscles and suboccipital muscles.

Aside from reducing neck pain, a good chin tuck exercise can help you:

• Getting relief from neck muscle spasms
• Improving your posture
• Relax your neck muscles

How to Do the Right Chin Tuck Exercise?

You may perform it either by standing or sitting.

1. Start by keeping your neck and shoulders in a relaxed position. Looked straight ahead.
2. Then, gently glide your chin straight back – tuck your chin to your neck area by not holding your breath. You will feel a little pull around your upper neck. Remember also not to move your head up or down or bending your neck forward.
3. Hold that position for about 5 seconds.
4. Bring your chin forward again.
5. You may repeat this exercise 10 times a day.

By performing a chin tuck exercise along with your stretching or other exercises, it can help you remind to maintain good posture. This can be a good way to start your day or you can perform this during your break times especially when your job requires heavy use of computers, mobile phones, or sitting. Also, you can have this while driving your car or riding on any transport vehicle.

Take in mind that it only requires you less than a minute to perform this exercise.

Also, when doing an effective chin tuck here’s a good reminder from @racheltylermovement:

 

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Get a sore neck much? We all do it, the chin lift, the chicken peck forward. ⠀ Practise this: ✔️Tuck your chin right in ✔️Lengthen your neck. Imagine a cord from the base of your skull pulling upwards. ⠀ Feel wrong? It will do at first but keep at it and it will begin to feel more normal. ⠀ Double chins getting in your way😀? You can see mine too…! The more you lengthen and tuck in like this the better balanced and most toned your neck muscles will be. ⠀ How many chins do you get doing this? I count 4 on me 😆.

A post shared by Rachel Tyler Foot Specialist (@racheltylermovement) on Sep 25, 2020 at 2:55am PDT

Also, take in mind that a chin tuck exercise is ideal for neck pain caused by poor posture and not for other neck pain conditions.

The Way to Prevent Neck Pain is through Strengthening Your Neck Muscles

You may also add some variations to your chin tuck exercise, just like what Dr. Alexis Shoope and be able to strengthen your neck muscles.

 

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NECK PAIN: Neck Strengthening⁣ ⁣ ↩️As you may have seen on yesterday’s post, neck pain and headaches may come from a lack of motion or certain joints that aren’t moving as well. 𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭! ⁣ ⁣ The deep neck flexors do just that! Two of the most important muscles are the 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐬. All of these exercises address those muscles. ⁣ ⁣ 🔹Chin Tucks: Slowly and gently tuck your chin like you are making a double chin. ⁣ 🔹Chin Tucks with Rotation: This is the same as above, but you are adding a dynamic movement with it. Don’t lose the tuck!⁣ 🔹Chin Tuck and Lift: These are NOT easy. Tuck your chin, lift your head only 1 inch off the ground and hold. You can start with 5 second holds and progress from there. ⁣ ⁣ 👀Stay tuned for more ways to strengthen and prevent neck pain and headaches!

A post shared by Dr. Alexis Shoope PT, DPT, OCS (@dr.alexis.shoope) on Oct 5, 2020 at 5:18pm PDT

Need some help with your neck problems?

At Evergreen Rehab and Wellness, will help you identify the real cause of your neck pain and provide you with a customized treatment plan. You may either need chiropractic treatment or physiotherapy sessions or a massage or acupuncture. We will help you achieve your health goals and be able to achieve your full potential.

You may also book online here.

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