Are your neck muscles weak?
People with chronic neck pain and headaches often have impaired control of their neck muscles. A common culprit we see here at the clinic is reduced strength and control of a muscle group called your deep neck flexors. These muscles are deep, stabilising muscles located at the front of your neck. These muscles often ‘switch off’ when you sit in a slouched position with your chin poking forwards, leading to dysfunction and imbalance of the muscles around your neck.
In order to test the coordination and strength of your neck flexor muscles at home, start by placing a band around the back of your head, holding each end of the band in front of you at eye height. See if you can pull your head back against the band by creating a ‘double chin’, avoiding excessive nodding. Hold this for 10 seconds. If you struggle to hold for 10 seconds, start by doing 10 rounds of 3 second holds, and build up your time from there. See our video for more details on the technique.
It is important that this exercise should be painfree – if you are experiencing pain whilst completing this exercise, see your physiotherapist for advice.