What Are Chin Tucks & How Can They Help You With Your Neck Pain?
Neck pain is, well… a pain in the neck. There are many reasons why your neck may be giving you trouble, so we are here to help! Many of our patients tell us that their neck constantly feels stiff and tight. They stretch it, they “crack” it, but nothing seems to work. I have found many of these patients to actually have decreased strength, motor control, and neck muscle endurance. As a result, they have overcompensated with their “global muscles.” These muscles are the big, strong muscles in the neck (i.e. upper trapezius, scalenes, sternocleidomastoid). Essentially, the body has overcompensated by recruiting muscles that pull and tug on the joints of the neck.
The muscles that don’t come to the party are the “local muscles.” These are the smaller muscles that provide intersegmental stability to the spine (i.e. longus capitis, longus colli, rectus capitis, rectus lateralis). These neck muscles are commonly referred to as the “deep neck flexors.” They tend to be underactive in a population with neck pain and/or poor posture. Recruiting these muscles is an integral component of getting relief from your neck pain.
So, enough with the depressing anatomy… how can you fight back against neck pain and prosper? One of our favorite exercises is the chin tuck. It recruits the deep neck flexor muscles and helps to restore intersegmental stability to the neck. When this happens, the global muscles begin to relax. There is less of a perceived threat from the brain and the painful output signal from the brain begins to decrease.
The chin tuck is not an easy exercise to perform. It involves pulling the chin back and down (think about trying to make a double chin). Many of our patients overdo it and recruit the global muscles to help. We don’t want that, so it’s crucial to avoid this by better understanding your body and its current capabilities. In other words, more is not always better. This is all about quality over quantity. Below are some of our favorite chin tuck variations:
Supine Chin Tuck
2. Supine Chin Tuck with Rotation
3. Quadruped Chin Tuck
4. Quadruped Chin Tuck with Rotation
5. Seated Chin Tuck with Overpressure
6. Seated Chin Tuck with Overpressure & Counterpressure
7. Seated Chin Tuck with Rotation & Overpressure
8. Prone on Elbows Chin Tuck
9. Prone on Elbows Chin Tuck with Band Resistance
If you or anybody you know is dealing with neck pain, we are here to help. Please feel free to contact us at 347-560-6920.
