General guidelines and precautions.
Even though there are seven exercises, it is unlikely that in any one exercise session you will need to do more than two. So the exercise program is neither hard nor time-consuming.
The purposes of the McKenzie neck exercises are to eliminate pain and, where possible, to restore normal function; that is, to regain full mobility in the neck or as much movement as is possible under the given circumstances. When you are exercising for pain relief, you should move to the edge of the pain or just into the pain, then release the pressure and return to the starting position. But when you are exercising for stiffness, the exercises can be made more effective by using your hands and gently but firmly applying overpressure (more pressure than you can apply just through unassisted movement of the head or neck) in order to obtain the maximum amount of movement. After doing the exercises, you should always correct your posture and then maintain the correct posture. Once you no longer have neck pain, good postural habits will be essential to prevent the recurrence of neck problems.
In order to determine whether the exercise program in this chapter is right for you, it is very important that you observe closely any changes in the location of the pain. You may notice that, as a result of the exercises, the pain, originally felt on one side of the spine, across the shoulders, or down the arm, moves toward the center of your neck. In other words, your pain localizes or centralizes. As with back pain, centralization of neck pain (Fig. 12.1) that takes place as you exercise is a good sign. If your pain moves from areas farther away from the neck
