Fix Tension With This Sternocleidomastoid Stretch
Nobody likes having a sore neck. Since you need your neck muscles at any time unless you are sleeping neck tension One of the most common causes giving you a sore neck is tension in your sternocleidomastoid. It is an essential muscle around your neck that determines the posture of your head.
Anatomy Sternocleidomastoid
In order to be able to understand how to stretch this muscle, you need to know where exactly it is located. In that case, a little bit of anatomy is going to help you to understand how the stretches work.
The sternocleidomastoid is one of the biggest muscles within your cervical muscles. Furthermore, it is quite superficial, which makes it easier to feel and see.
Looking at the picture to the right you can see that the muscle runs from the temporal bone of your skull (near your ears) all the way down to your chest bone along the side of your neck.
Therefore you can already see that it is primarily responsible for two motions.
- Tilting your head (opposite flexion)
- Rotating of the head
Both motions are constantly being used throughout the day, which explains why this muscle is a frequent cause of neck tension & dizziness.
The Stretches
In order to relieve tension, there are different approaches that you should combine together in more severe cases. The easiest way to improve the condition of your sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle, is by doing stretching. But there are more ways including
- Massage
- Strengthening
Head Tilts
Regarding stretching, the most effective method is going to be head-tilts
Start by putting your left hand on the right side of your head near your ears. Slowly tilt your head down towards your left shoulder by applying gentle pressure.
Hold the stretch for roughly 10-20 seconds before switching sides. Remember to switch sides to avoid muscular dysbalance, to not worsen the tension. Also, note that by tilting your head to the left you stretch your right sternocleidomastoid and vice versa.
I wanted the same stretch can also be used as a strengthening exercise. Simply tilt your head towards one shoulder and then going all the way to the other shoulder. It is going to strengthen your SCM muscle while working as a dynamic stretch as well.
Head Rotation
Furthermore, you can stretch your sternocleidomastoid by doing head rotations. Once again you can use the same stretch as a strengthening exercise by doing it as a fluent motion.
All you are gonna do is neck rotations from the left to the right side. Start by turning your head to either side, while adding additional pressure with your hands (if necessary). Hold the position at a range of motion where you feel a slight pull but no pain at all, to make it the most effective.
To work on different parts of the muscle you can change the angle of the exercise by tucking your chin in, still doing the same exercise.
Circles
An excellent dynamic stretch to warm-up your neck is by slowly doing circles with your head. This is going to stretch the SCM and other important cervical muscles. After 5-8 slow repetitions, you should switch side, to work & on both muscles around your neck.
Causes For Neck Tension
Neck pain & tension can have a various range of different causes. Often a one-sided headache can be enough for your head to tilt to one side, causing you a tight neck.
Despite that, you should avoid forward-head posture while keeping your head upright in a natural position.
Surprisingly one of the most frequent causes for neck pain can be any problems around your hips. Since the entire body is connected by muscles with each other, a dysbalance in one muscle can cause trouble to another muscle going all the way up to your neck.
It can also go the other way round, whereas a stiff neck causes you to walk in a tilted way, which eventually leads to knee & hip pain.
So if you have knee problems or tight hip flexors, it is vital to strengthen & stretch your hips as well.
At some point, I realized, that all the stretching of my neck only led to temporary relief, as my hip flexors were the actual cause of the problem. So if you've been struggling with neck problems for a long time, you should consider checking out a hip flexor training program. Click here to read my review of my personal favorite.
Conclusion
I hope this article will help you to fix your neck problems on a long term basis. Try to integrate both stretching, strengthening & massage. Also, think outside of the box as your cause for neck pain & stiffness might not even be the neck itself!
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