A common cause of headaches is poor posture. Nerves from your neck travel up the back and over the top of your head. If you have poor posture these nerves get compressed and cause pain and can even cause spasms and tightness in you neck and upper back muscles.
Over time your body will adapt to your poor posture and you will lose flexibility. You end up with short tight muscles in your neck and the front of your shoulders. You will also develop weak muscles on the back of your shoulder and upper back. You end up with slouched posture and headache and neck pain.
3 Best Exercises to Treat Posture-Related Neck Pain & Headache
#1 Chin tuck: Lie down on your back with a rolled up towel under the middle of your neck. Gently push your neck down into the towel. Repeat 10 times. Try 2-3 times a day. This will help stretch out the short tight muscles in the back of your neck.
#2 Shoulder Blade Squeezes: Sitting or standing in your best posture pi
nch your shoulder blades together 10 times. This will strengthen the weak muscles causing your bad posture. Try to repeat this exercise 2-3 times a day.
#3 Corner Stretch: Place your forearms up on a wall and lean forward into the corner to stretch the tightness in the front of your shoulders from your slouched posture. Hold this position for 1-2 minutes and repeat 2-3 times a day.
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Christopher DiPasquale, PhD, PT, OCS, SCS, CHT is a physical therapist at Performance Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine with offices in Hebron and Colchester, Connecticut. He is board certified by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties in Orthopedic Physical Therapy and Sports Physical Therapy and a Certified Hand Therapist by the Hand Therapy Certification Committee.
For more information visit pptsm.com or call the office: Colchester 860-537-3014 or Hebron 860-228-4883