best positions for back/neck pain

[casey0868]

along w/ meds what is best positions and activities for relieving pain?

[karen717]

By the way, PLEASE DON'T DO THESE STRETCHES IF YOU HAVE DISC PROBLEMS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. I would not want to be responsible for you hurting yourself. My muscles get tight b/c of fibromyalgia.
Karen

[karen717]

I am going to describe some neck stretches that really helped keep my neck pain down when I went to PT. I also do them now that PT is over.

One:
Put your right hand behind your back up between your shoulder blades. Lean your head to the right as far as you can with your ear toward your shoulder. Try to keep looking forward as you do this. Hold for a count of 20. Do the same with the left arm and lean to the left side. Do this about 5 times on each side. You can feel it stretching but its not painful. Sometimes, it feels good to me to slightly push my ear toward my shoulder by putting a little pressure on my head with my opposite hand.

Two:
Turn your head to the right as far as you can with chin toward shoulder. Try to keep your head upright. With your left hand, push with a little pressure on your chin to make your head turn a little more. Don't push hard. Hold for a count of about 10-15. Do the same on the other side. Do this about 5 times on each side.

The more days you do this, the more flexibility the muscles in your neck will have. When I do them everyday, my pain is less and I have fewer headaches. Without some kind of stretching exercises, the muscles just keep tightening up. I tried to explain these the best I could. I hope it makes sense. Let me know if I confused you or if these help. Please, if it hurts, STOP! It should not be painful. You should just feel it stretch a little.
Karen