How nasty is a ‘cricked neck’? Maybe you’ve slept in an odd position, or maybe you’ve reached for something and felt a shooting pain that develops into a horrible spasm that lasts for days or longer, limiting your movements and making you feel just dreadful. Several packets of painkillers later and a few visits to the chiropractor and you might just get some short-term relief, but wouldn’t you like to find out why it happens and discover a way to get to the root of the problem so it never happens again? Of course you would, and here’s how…
The causes of neck pain can be present long before the actual pain sets in, so identifying these causes and nipping them in the bud is the key to never having to suffer again.
Of course trauma to the area is a common cause, and serious disc and vertebra damage must be ruled out first, but generally the causes are more subtle and everyday in origin. General wear and tear, or spondylosis, can cause intermittent problems, as can many forms of muscle imbalances caused by sedentary lifestyles.
Just like thoracic problems, the fear response (very common and usually subconscious) where the shoulders lift and the neck protrudes forwards can also set off the pain cycle. Neck problems can also be associated with referred pain or numbness in the arms, such as in thoracic outlet syndrome where the brachial plexus nerves are compressed by tight scalene muscles.
Other problems can be triggered by tightness in the trapezius, upper pectoral or sub occipital muscles, or even a subluxed first rib. All of the above can contribute unwelcome muscle tension that pulls the vertebrae out of alignment, thus causing pain and/or numbness.
Whatever the root cause of the problem, Somatic Movement Education offers a simple, gentle system of exercises to unwind the holding patterns in these muscles that result in neck pain. To truly treat neck pain, we must look deeper into the body than just the localised area of pain, and this is where Somatic Movement Education comes into its own.
The techniques for rebalancing neck pain would begin in the Somatic centre of the body, which is between the rib cage and pelvis, and all the muscles, front back and sides, such as the rectus abdominis, need to be gently unwound. This would lead up to specific techniques for the area of pain, where attention would be given to the muscles of the neck and upper back and chest, including the sternocleidomastoid, scalene and trapezius.
If all this seems a bit technical, don’t worry! Basically it’s just to show that although the causes of neck pain can be very varied, and there is a complicated set of muscles, joints and nerves that can make up the problem, the solution is simple, easy and enjoyable with Somatic Movement Education, which gives you a set of solutions that you can use at home whenever you need them, and save loads of time and money on short-term cures and pill-popping.
Of course, as I stress in all my articles on rebalancing the body with SME, you must hydrate the body too! So many imbalances are caused by dehydration, and if we drink two or three litres of clean, pure water every day, not only will we address the dehydration itself, but enable the Somatic Movement exercises to help draw that moisture into the cartilage and discs, greatly aiding repair.
For more info see Brian Ingle’s Somatic Movement video download.
Originally posted 2014-02-09 14:16:45.