Why your neck pain, has nothing to do with your neck.

A lot of clients come in reporting ongoing neck pain. This is typically stiffness or tightness that starts from the corner of the shoulder blade and continues up the neck into the base of the head. For many, a range of treatments from massage, to heat packs, weekly chiro and rest fail to overcome the reoccurring, persistent pain in the neck.

The spine is a complex series of puzzle pieces with each portion designed to have more movement in certain directions to enable bending and twisting. Movement in one section of your back influences the section above and below it. Therefore if the middle of your back (the section below your neck and above your low back) is restricted, you got it, the neck is affected.

With the middle of the back not moving as it should, the neck is left to do twice the work. Certain muscles become stretched, weakened and overused, causing pain, stiffness and an ongoing cycle of neck pain.

The good news!

Return some mobility in that middle back, lost through hours of sitting, computer work or a lack of diversity in your movements and tah-dah… problem solved! It might not be instant, regaining mobility takes weeks of persistence, but eventually it will pay off.

Check out these movements to put more rotation and extension in your middle back and make your neck happy.