Reduce how long a stiff neck lasts with these two stretches

How Long Does a Stiff Neck Last?

It’s happened to most people. You wake up in the morning, and as soon as your neck moves, you can feel that dreaded stiffness. In many cases, the stiffness should go away on its own within about 24 hours. You might think that you’re stuck with it until it goes away. Fortunately, there are ways you can decrease how long your stiff neck lasts, and there are two stretching exercises for your neck that can be helpful for this. 

1.   Neck rotation stretch

One exercise that physical therapists often use for neck stiffness is the neck rotation stretch. The exercise is designed to be easy to do, but it can also be an effective way to stretch stiff and painful neck muscles and reduce how long your stiff neck lasts. 

You’ll want to sit in a stable chair for this exercise, and the starting position for it is sitting with a straight back and your head centered over your shoulders. From this starting position, slowly turn your head away from the stiff muscles. This means turning your head to the left to stretch stiff muscles in the right side of your neck. Turn your head until you feel a stretch in your neck, and then hold the stretch for 20 to 30 seconds before returning to the starting position. You should repeat these steps three times in total for the best results. 

2.   Levator scapulae stretch

The levator scapulae muscle can be a hot spot for neck stiffness. Lifting the shoulder blade is the job of this muscle, and reducing how long stiffness in this neck muscle lasts is best done with the levator scapulae stretch. 

To begin this therapeutic exercise, sit in a stable chair with good back and head posture. Then place the palm of the hand on the same side as the stiffness on your shoulder. This should leave your elbow pointed up toward the ceiling. Once in this starting position, you’ll place your other hand on the back of your head, and then slowly pull your head down toward your opposite thigh. After 20 to 30 seconds, release the stretch and return to the starting position, and you should continue to repeat these steps until you’ve done the stretch three times. 

Whatcom Physical Therapy is ready to help you reduce how long your stiff neck lasts

When you have a stiff neck, the day can feel like it’s dragging on forever. Our team can help you find ways to reduce your neck stiffness more quickly, and it all starts with a free screening. This will give us a chance to learn where your stiffness is, when it happens and other useful information. We can then use this knowledge to create a personalized treatment and prevention plan for you, and therapy methods we may include in this plan are: 

Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment to start treating your neck stiffness.