Turn Your Head Without Pain

Turn Your Head Without Pain

It shouldn't hurt to turn your head when you wake up in the morning. Get your neck moving better so you can get back to the activities you enjoy!

The video above addresses one specific potential cause for neck pain that occurs when turning your head: limited cervical spine rotation range of motion.

Why Do I Have Neck Pain?

If you slept in a funny position, your neck (cervical spine) could have experienced too much stress at night. This can cause the joints in your neck to get inflamed and the surrounding muscles to tighten (muscle guarding).

When there is inflammation and muscle guarding, it makes it hard to turn your head without pain.

What Can I Do To Fix My Neck Pain?

As you already know, trying to turn your head when your neck hurts rarely goes well. Instead of forcing the motion, you should try to indirectly restore the motion.

If it hurts to turn your head to the right, then swing your left arm up and back to the left. Keep your head fixed in place (don't let your head follow your hand). And turn your torso (don't isolate motion to your shoulder).

Your right shoulder should be relaxed or even actively pulled down and back.

Swinging your left arm up and back while keeping your head still will create a lot of cervical spine right rotation. This motion should be pain free, if it isn't, turn your torso a little less to start.

Do this drill several times a day for the next week and you should regain pain free neck rotation.

If it hurts to turn your head to the left, try the same drill but use your right arm to swing up and back.

And if it hurts to reach your arm overhead, no problem! Simply cross your arms, rotate your torso, and keep your head still.

Remember, This Is Only The Start For Most Injury Recoveries...

The body is complicated and this is one small, but important piece to your injury recovery.

Get Individualized Injury Recovery Help!

Click here to schedule a virtual or in-person appointment with one of our doctors of physical therapy. Feel free to visit www.forefrontpllc.com to learn more about our practice, Forefront Physical Therapy.