Neck tightness

So, I have some neck tightness building up...

 

I have always had a semi-tight neck but it has exploded recently with a much higher sports activity, reading on the computer and playing poker.

 

I primarily feel it in my right side of my neck but the left side is catching up. I thought headstands would fix it but I cannot tell any difference.

 

I do F1 + H1 with some minor modifications.

 

Do you know any exercises and stretches that will loosen up my neck? And what should I not do?

 

EDIT:

 

It is the muscles of sternocleidomastoideus.

Neck circles in the warmup are always a good addition. And if you work at a desk, getting in the habit of stretching out your neck and wrists every time you go to the restroom is a great way of avoiding tension headaches and RSI.

Tightness in the neck means that your muscles are contracting more than they are relaxing (say in any 24 hour period) and so your neck is compressing in on itself, being pulled together by the muscles spanning it.

 

Now your head is quite heavy so your neck muscles have quite a job to do holding it on your body, say when you carry your head forward looking at a computer screen. However, it is as no way as heavy as the rest of your body, so how would headstands relieve neck stiffness????? You are simply loading your neck into compression further, if anything it will aggravate the tightness further. Give the headstands a rest for a week until your neck feels back to 'normal' again.

 

You need to stretch out the muscles of the neck and that includes those that run from the shoulder blades to the neck and head. Stretch out your traps (reach underneath stretch & Supine trap stretch in bridge series), scalenes as well as pecs and shoulders generally. If your feeling tight, more than usual and abnormally so, then when your stretching it needs to be with a therapeutic focus. What i mean by this is your aim is to relax the muscles and return them to a lengthened state, do not be trying to increase your end of range, which one may normally attempt when no discomfort is felt.

 

For the scalenes, simply let your head hang to one side, keep the shoulders relaxed and down. Then you can roll forward to the other side and back the way you came. When there is already discomfort it's best practice to avoid the backward portion of the circle just to keep pressure of the joints.

Best stretch I've ever done for my neck. Stand to your feet with and upright posture. With your shoulders relaxed and down as best as you can, drop your head forward and let out a deep exhale for 3 seconds. From there do slow neck rotations. 5 in each direction, really getting your head as low as possible to really feel the stretch. Each rotation should be around 12-20 seconds. If you feel a spot that is particularly tight, then pause there and relax into that position for 3 full breaths and continue with that rotation. Do these slow and take your time. It will do wonders for your neck and remind you what it feels like to have your neck relaxed again. So when you feel it start to tense up again throughout the day, you can just do a minor neck rotation that will alleviate any discomfort.

Side note: Neck stiffness also tends to be associated with tension in your shoulders, upper chest/upper back. Relaxing those 3 areas will help aswell.

Thank you for the replies guys.

 

I will skip headstands for now along with some other overhead work.

 

Got some stretches too and I found out how to self-massage it. The tightness is already fading (to some degree) and the majority left are knots.

 

But after I did the stretches, and it is light stretching, and the massaging I felt somewhat sleepy for the rest of the day. My hypothesis is that by loosening up the muscles I experience the symptoms that the tightness were causing, to a higher degree than normal. Am I right?

Tiredness after a treatment that has released some long standing tension is very normal in my experience.

Many of my patients report this and I believe it is due to changes in the nervous system, and in particular decreasing levels of activity in the motor neurons associated with the neck. This reduction in motor activity is associated with increased activity in the parasympathetic nervous system, which aids in digestion, recouperative processes and sleep.

I estimate I could make 90 percent of people feel the same way by treating the neck with a focus on inhibition and relaxation.

Take it as a very good sign! Repeat the process again in a few days.