Chin tuck exercise ยท neck pain
The chin tuck exercise is small on purpose. The neck muscles it wakes up are small too.
The chin tuck is a home neck exercise: sitting or standing tall, you glide your chin straight back without tipping your head, pause there for five seconds, ten rounds in all. It retrains the deep muscles at the front of the neck that go quiet when the neck hurts.
Skip this one unless it is marked on the home program your physician gave you. Unless your instructions say otherwise, do your marked exercises twice a day, every day, and tick off each session in your log.
Step by step: the chin tuck
- Set up: Sit or stand upright, eyes looking straight ahead.
- Move: Slide your chin backward, as if a finger were pressing on it, until you feel a gentle stretch at the base of your skull. Keep your gaze level.
- Count and hold: Hold for 5 seconds. Repeat 10 times. Twice a day.
Why the chin tuck matters after a procedure
Deep neck flexors are thin muscles that hug the front of the spine. When the neck is painful they tend to shut off, and the larger muscles at the back and sides of the neck end up carrying your head. Those larger muscles were never built for that shift, so they tighten, ache and feed the pain cycle. If a radiofrequency procedure or a nerve block has turned the pain down, this is the window to put the small muscles back in charge.
Which mistakes undo it?
- Nodding your head down. Your eyes stay on the horizon; only the chin moves back.
- Forcing it. The right amount of effort feels almost too easy.
- Hiking your shoulders while you hold.
When to stop for the day
Expect a mild stretch, some effort, and maybe a little soreness the next morning. Quit for the day and phone (314) 886-5620 if you get:
- Numbness, tingling or weakness that was not there before
- A sharp, stabbing pain
- Pain that rises 2 points or more above your starting number and does not settle within an hour
- Lightheadedness, or your vision changing
Fainting, chest pain or a struggle to breathe: dial 911, not our office.
What to remember
- Chin slides back, eyes stay level.
- Light effort. This is about control, not strength.
- Shoulders stay low and loose.
Last step. Show us you have it: Right here in the clinic, do three chin tucks for your technician, holding each one for a count of five. Unsure about any step? We run through it with you again next time.
Why bring your exercise log?
The log is how we tell the difference between an exercise that is not working and an exercise that is not being done. At each visit your technician counts the sessions you checked off, notes your daily pain number, and watches you do one exercise to correct your form before small errors become habits.
Related reading
- The painstl.com physiotherapy program, every station and test
- Neck turn, another neck exercise
- Side bend, another neck exercise
- Shoulder blade squeeze, another neck exercise
Need the plan built around your injection?
A physician examines you first and decides which neck exercises fit your diagnosis and the procedure you had.
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