Stiff Neck? Start with a Breath.
One of the most common complaints I work with, specifically noting my clients in a chiropractic setting, is “a stiff neck.” Sometimes, it’s limited neck movement, other times it is shoulder pain and “feeling stressed.” In this article, I'll detail how breathing relates to neck tightness, how I work with these clients, and provide a breathing practice to decrease neck stress.
When someone books a session for a stiff neck, a tight neck, or shoulder pain at the base of the neck, the first thing I do is slowly test the six neck actions, through range of motion (ROM)
to understand how their neck moves and identify *compensation patterns
to see which, if any, movements produce pain or tension and where those sensations are
so the client can experience and identify how they feel when moving.
Place a hand on both the abdomen and over the chest, just below the clavicle. Take a “deep breath.” What would you expect to feel? Take note of what moves first, what your breath sounds like, and how it feels. Commonly, when these clients take a “deep breath,” their shoulders rise to their ears, the sound is shallow, and the muscles in their neck tighten. Sometimes, these breaths are accompanied by an open mouth. Does any of this relate to you?
Breathing is the only function in your body that is both voluntary and involuntary, meaning you can choose to breathe and even if you decide to hold your breath, eventually, your body will breathe for you. In this way, your breath is linked to both your sympathetic (fight, flight, or freeze) and parasympathetic (rest & digest) nervous system. Don’t worry, I’ll dive into that in a later entry. The most important part of this, you can actively choose to relax, through breathing. If you choose, you can also cause yourself a lot of unnecessary stress. My pressing harder, if you are not breathing, will not make you relax. Ask anyone who left a Deep Tissue or Sports Massage with a bruise.
To explain how I would work with these clients, I first need to elaborate on “Three part Breathing,” the “Yogic Breath,” the “complete breath.” This breath pattern starts with diaphragmatic or belly breathing, moves to costal or lateral breathing, and completes with upper costal breathing, before the exhale. This breath sounds deep, guttural, and is released with a sighing breath. Practice any of these breath segments by adding slight resistance, either with a hand or a gentle weight; actively breathe into the resistance. Can you press your abdomen out, expand your ribs, and lift the clavicle in a single breath? If you are a client of mine, you have heard me say “I can not make you relax. I can only put you into the position to relax and cue your breathing.”
Breathing In - I am aware of my breath. Breathing Out - I sigh, relief.
*Compensation Patterns - When an action is limited and accessory muscles take over or assist. Ex. I can not rotate my neck, to look over my shoulder, so I must rotate my torso, as if in a neck brace.
Scalene trigger point referral patterns from triggerpoints.net.
Note the attachment to the first rib and strong referral directly posterior, behind the scapula. The “X” in the images refer to the “point,” whereas the shaded areas refer to common areas of referral. These images are for reference only, please see a professional for specific trigger point work.
