How can I ease neck and shoulder tension?!


Question: My neck and shoulders are always really stiff. What kind of stretches or yoga moves or something can I do to help?


Answers: My neck and shoulders are always really stiff. What kind of stretches or yoga moves or something can I do to help?

there are a lot of things you can do...often i end up running through the list until i finally find what works.

muscle relaxers can help - sometimes, once those muscles get knotted up, it's like a snowball effect and the tense muscles just keep each other going. taking muscle relaxers for a few days can stop the cycle. Doan's pills are an over-the-counter muscle relaxant that can help.

if heat isn't helping, sometimes cold can do the trick. ice packs stop the muscles from spasming, whereas hot packs can sometimes make them spasm even more.

a preventative measure that sometimes makes me feel better, too, is to correct my posture. your ears should be even with your shoulders, and your chin should be slightly tucked, not raised upwards. if i correct my posture and stay that way carefully, sometimes i feel better in 15-20 minutes. remembering to stay that way all the time means that the tension happens a lot less often.

a trick my husband taught me for helping to relax the trapezius muscle: lace your fingers behind your head, like you're doing situps, but keep your elbows pointed straight out to the sides. tilt your head back, leaning it into your hands, while you push forward gently with your hands, creating resistance. this stretches the neck and shoulder muscles in the opposite direction from what they are usually stretching in, helping to balance things.

for a fuller range-of-motion stretch similar to the above, grasp a towel, rope or whatever in both hands. raise arms over your head, palms facing forward, hands about shoulder-width apart. slowly pull your arms downward behind your neck while holding your head and neck straight - no leaning forward. pull outwards with your hands while you pull down. this is a way to more fully counter-stretch your muscles in the opposite direction. doing this, several sets of repetitions, i can sometimes kill a tension headache.

just get someone to massage you every once in awhile, I got the same problem and I just get my gf to rub my neck for me, helps alot.

I went to get a professional massage for the first time ever, a few days ago. And I was given a couple of things to do. I suggest you do the same. They could tell you better than anyone. Plus, the massage actually really helped! I was rather impressed, since I wasn't much of a believer in the power of massage. The massage time was a gift from someone else, or I would never have gone.

Orgasm may relieve a lot of the tension you are talking about. You can try it with or without a partner. Follow it up with a gentle massage and a warm shower.





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