Why's neck pain so scary?
and how to fix it
Treating neck pain is pretty simple.
The program I gave him is attached at the end of this post since it’s a free download for our paid subscribers.
This specific patient has some recent imaging and it showed 2 herniated disc, and he had been dealing with neck pain for several months.
He’s young, 25, and scared he will make his neck worse and visualizes himself crippled in 10 years from multiple surgeries.
This is a valid (and common) concern.
Most people know of a friend or relative that had a neck injury (or low back) and had to get surgery and has been messed up since.
And that memory of Aunt Ethel in a neck brace is why we treat the neck different than any other body part.
Neck pain is no different than bicep pain (in a majority of cases)
The main difference?
If you bicep hurts, you just use it less until it stops hurting.
The neck has to hold your head up all day, so you can’t STOP using it unless you are laying down.
Also, the brain prioritizes your neck over your bicep since a broken neck can kill you, whereas a broken arm is usually a good story plus your friends sign your cast.
Fixing a bicep vs fixing a neck
Again, no big difference here. Each contain muscles, joints, ligaments, nerves, etc, and the principles to heal these structures is universal throughout the body.
rest as needed - hopefully not total rest but sometimes it be that way
move through a full range of motion (ROM) with assistance
move through a full ROM without assistance
move through a full ROM with resistance
Doing #4 is what we call “exercise” and helps prevent the need for having to do #1 and #2.
And keeps your ability to do #3.
That’s why our neck program is so wonderful. It literally takes you 5 minutes a day to
get back to normal
stay normal
And it requires ZERO equipment.