Neck exercise 3
Filed in Exercises, March 31, 2009, 10:28 amHead Retraction in Lying
Lie on a bed. Lie face up, with your head at a free-standing edge of the bed rather than next to any headboard. For example, lie across a double bed or with your head at the foot of a single bed. Rest your head and shoulders flat on the bed and do [...]
Neck exercise 2
Filed in Exercises, March 30, 2009, 10:37 amNeck Extension in Sitting
Extension means ward, as if you were looking bending backward, up at the sky. This exercise should always follow Exercise 1. Remain seated, repeat Exercise 1 a few times, then hold your head in the retracted position. Now you are ready to start Exercise 2.
Lift your chin up and tilt [...]
Neck exercise 1
Filed in Exercises, March 29, 2009, 10:10 amHead Retraction in Sitting
This is the first McKenzie exercise for the neck. Again, if you are a back patient, you will find the McKenzie exercises for the back in Chapter 5.
Head retraction means pulling the head backward.
Sit on a chair or stool, look straight ahead, and allow yourself to relax completely.
Exercise program
Filed in General, March 28, 2009, 10:11 amWhen beginning this exercise program, you should stop any other exercises that you may have been shown by a health professional. You should also temporarily stop any workout or sports activities. If you want to continue with exercises other than those described in this book, you should wait
until your pains have completely subsided.
Correction of the lying posture
Filed in Correct, March 27, 2009, 7:27 amIf the lying posture itself is thought to cause neck pain, it needs to be investigated for each person individually, largely by trial and error. Consult a credentialed member or associate of the McKenzie Institute (see Appendix A). But there is one position that requires further discussion.
Correction of surface
Filed in Neck, March 26, 2009, 5:37 amAll that is required to correct the surface on which you are lying is to use a different pillow. You may need to change the material, the thickness, or both. You must realize that the main function of the pillow is to support both head and neck. Therefore it should fill the natural hollow in [...]
Case history: what a headache
Filed in Case history, March 25, 2009, 4:06 amColleen, from Ohio, is a 27-year-old customer service agent with an airline. She had pain in the neck and the right shoulder blade. There was no known cause for the pain. The pain radiated down her right arm to her thumb and she had occasional headaches. When she started the McKenzie program, she had had [...]
Correction of the sitting posture
Filed in Correct, March 24, 2009, 3:00 amYou may have been sitting slouched for many years without neck and shoulder pain. But once you have developed neck problems, you must no longer sit in the old way, because the slouched posture will only continue the overstretching discussed previously.
If you are sitting slouched, with the lower back rounded, it is not possible to [...]
Environmental factors
Filed in Factors, March 23, 2009, 1:00 amThe design of seating found in business and industrial settings, transportation, and the home only encourages poor postural habits. Rarely do the chairs and seats available give adequate support to the lower back and neck and, unless a conscious effort is made to sit correctly, we are forced to sit badly.
Sitting for prolonged periods
Filed in Neck, March 21, 2009, 11:00 pmWhen we are moving about, especially when we walk briskly, we assume a fairly upright posture. Our head is retracted and held directly over the vertebral column and consequently receives the maximum possible support. When we sit and relax in a chair , the head and neck slowly protrude, because the muscles that support them [...]
