Published in the March 2-15, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Dorene O’Malley
Dorene O’Malley
Now that computers, tablets, smart phones and the like are part of everyday life, more and more people find that they are suffering from neck pain, shoulder tension and headaches. One of the biggest reasons is that your head, which weighs roughly eight to 10 pounds, is thrust out in front of your body (go ahead — take a look now while you are reading this article and see if your ears are in front of your shoulders). When the head is in this forward-head position, the neck and upper shoulder muscles are working overtime to hold your head up. When you start to really think about the time you spend staring at a screen and maintaining this posture, it translates to a significant amount of time. When the muscles are held in an incorrect position for long periods of time, your range of motion becomes compromised and pretty soon you can’t move your head and you are so tight, your arms cannot go overhead without you wearing your shoulders as earrings.
Since we aren’t going to stop using our computers or smart phones any time soon, and daily massages are probably cost prohibitive, you can use this easy home-made tool to help you relieve some of the pain. (If you have any neck, head or spinal issues, you should check with your doctor before attempting to try this. This is for those of us with pure muscle tension and lack of movement).
• Grab some firm balls that are about the size of tennis balls. I find tennis balls a bit too squishy but if you are so tight that an easy touch is somewhat painful, go with the softer balls first. We use “pinky balls” in the studio (a Google search will turn up many options).
• Get a knee sock, tube sock, or knee-high. Put the two balls all the way inside to the toe end of the sock, one on top of the other. Put a knot in the end of the sock so that the balls cannot move around.
• Lie on your back on a firm surface (the bed or sofa will not work as there will be no pressure). If you need to prop yourself with pillows under the knees or elsewhere, go ahead. You want to be as comfortable as possible.
• Place your new tool under your neck so that one ball is on either side of your spine. Start at the base of the neck/ top of the shoulders. There is usually lots of tension and tightness in this area.
• You want to keep your face parallel to the ground and not tilt your head back so that your chin points to the ceiling. If your neck is very tight you may need to prop the back of it so that you can maintain a level head and pressure on the neck.
• Stay there for at least two minutes You can add very gentle, small and slow head nods, moving the head as if to say yes and no. Again, small and slow are key.
• After the first two minutes or so, move the balls upward about an inch. Continue in this fashion until you reach the base of the skull, where you feel the ridge of the skull. This is where your upper shoulder muscles attach and many people do not even realize they have pain and tension there.
You should feel gentle pressure as if you were receiving a massage and there should be a feeling of release at some point.
Do not get discouraged after trying this once and not getting results. Give yourself time. If you are spending nine hours a day working at a computer, that is 540 minutes a day. Spending only 20 minutes a day to try and counteract the damage done from years of accumulated tension is small peanuts. So be diligent and understand that it will take time to get relief. But isn’t 20 minutes a day a small price to pay to be able to rid yourself of the constant pain in the neck?
Dorene O’Malley is the owner and a certified instructor at CoreHealth Method — Pilates & Corrective Movement in Morgan Hill. She wrote this for Morgan Hill Life.
