Pain in the Neck
We often use ‘pain in the neck’ to describe anything annoying, but when you really have pain in your neck, it stops you in your tracks. Like low back pain, neck pain is too common. Approximately 3 out of 4 people experience neck pain during their lifetime, and many deal with it every year.
Breathing for Pain Relief
You might be surprised to learn that neck pain can be linked to breathing habits. The first place to look for relieving neck pain is your breathing practice. In the previous articles on breathing, you may have noticed a common theme: the rib cage. The rib cage is key to our body’s overall health and avoiding pain.
Align Your Rib Cage
The rib cage sets up the rest of the body. When we suck our gut up and in, this lifts the rib cage and decreases the space for the neck. When the ribs lift up, so do the shoulder blades and also the shoulders and collarbones.
Lost Neck Space
The neck pays for this. The neck joints have less space since we can’t lift our head up more when we lift the ribs, so the neck has to compress. Sometimes, when we lift the ribs, we shift our heads forward to try to regain some of the lost space. Then, the muscles that attach between the neck, shoulders, and ribs shorten, taking on a new normal. If there is less space, tissues butt up against each other to create pain. And when the muscles work abnormally, we develop pain, all from lifting the rib cage.
Pulling in Air
It also affects breathing. An abnormally raised rib cage strains the diaphragm because it loses the support it needs to work best. The front side ribs connect to the diaphragm, so if the ribs flare up and out, the diaphragm can’t easily pull air into the lungs. When this happens, other parts of the body have to help the diaphragm get air into the lungs. The neck muscles are often the first line of support to help the diaphragm.
Neck Muscles Aren’t for Breathing
Neck muscles attach to the collarbone and ribs and lift these bones to create a similar effect of drawing air into the lungs. If the diaphragm can’t drop down to make space to pull air into the lungs, then the ribs have to lift up to make this space. Although neck muscles can be strong, they are not designed for breathing. They are designed to move your head! Neck muscles should not be lifting your collarbone and ribs 12 to 18 times a minute so you can breathe. That’s a lot of overuse on muscles that aren’t built for this task.
Neck Too Toned
If these neck muscles are taking on the work of breathing, they become more toned, which sounds like a good thing. The problem is the neck muscles are getting toned in a shortened position. As the neck muscles become more toned with less space, this puts more force on the neck joints and discs. Because we are constantly turning our heads, it can easily cause disc issues and nerve compression. Compressed nerves can cause numbness, tingling or pain radiating down one or both arms.
Check Your Neck
Relying on your neck muscles to breathe can harm your body. Before you can fix this, you have to become aware of it. Here is a simple way to check if your neck muscles are overworking during breathing. Do this seated to see how your neck performs when you are not worrying about your balance.
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Sit in a chair facing a mirror and gently breathe in and out.
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Look at your neck, chest, and ribs to see what happens. Do you see your neck muscles contracting?
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Turn your chair sideways and try to peek at yourself from the side to see what happens. If you can’t do this, try recording yourself on your phone from the side. This lets you see if your neck muscles are contracting with your breathing.
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Next, put your right fingers on the muscles along the right side of your neck. Inhale and see if you can feel the muscles tensing. Then, check the other side as well as the front and back of your neck.
Breathe without Your Neck
As you look and feel what’s happening at your neck, imagine inhaling without seeing or feeling your neck muscles working. For that to happen, breathing should mainly use the diaphragm. If other muscles kick in, like the lower back or the shoulders, this also hurts your neck because the rib cage still lifts up and crowds your neck.
Change Your Exhale
To address neck pain, we have to change our breathing. The easiest way to get the rib cage to drop down to its neutral position is to change how you exhale. Try this sitting in a chair:
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Sit back into the chair and make sure your feet are flat on the floor or on some books with your knees at the level of your hip crease or higher.
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Gently breathe in, and as you exhale, allow the chest to melt in and the belly button area to relax out.
This allows your rib cage to drop into a neutral position, creating space for your neck. It might take time to get this, but it’s worth it.
Relearn to Breathe
Improved breathing technique is the first step to reducing neck pain. Learn to breathe the way your body was designed to breathe.
For more, see pabrinstitute.com
