5 Neck Pain Exercises

Neck pain is a common complaint among new moms.

If you are looking for ways to improve this, this video is for you!

I’ll show you 5 neck pain exercises to help you relieve tensions and improve your posture.

Play Video
Leslie Abraham

By Leslie Abraham

neck pain exercises

Here is an overview of what I’m going to cover in this blog post:

Table of Contents

Why do I experience postpartum neck pain?

Neck pain and headaches are very frequent during the early days of motherhood and postpartum. I used to see tons of moms in my osteopathic practice with this complaint. Several factors can be at the root cause of this. 

So why are you experiencing this? It’s never one thing or the other. Like in any situation, postpartum neck pain is the result of a combination of factors. Let’s take a look at some of them.  

Bad posture habits are one of the most common causes. We are all developing bad habits over time: when we are driving, standing on our feet, sitting at our desk, etc. All these small changes will tend to create dysfunctions in your body creating chronic pains in turn. 

Neck pain can usually be the result of:

  • A lack of mobility in your upper back, 
  • A lack of mobility in your shoulders joints,
  • Tensions around your jaw joints (TMJ),
  • Muscle imbalances between the front part of your shoulders and your upper back,

Just to name a few.

Posture definitely plays a huge role in all the chronic pains and discomforts we develop over time. A posture type we see very often among new moms, looks like this:

  • Anterior pelvic tilt: do you feel like your body weight is more on your toes than your heels, and that your hips bones are pushed ahead of your heels?
  • Increased lower back curve: usually combined with an anterior pelvic tilt and rounded shoulders
  • Forward rounded shoulders: do you feel like your shoulders are coming forward and that your collarbones are “closed”? Do you feel tensions pulling in your mid-back, upper back when deeply inhaling?
exercises for neck pain

Nursing and feeding baby can also add to this. It can be really hard to find a comfy position without increasing existing tensions. Some common posture imbalances I was seeing over and over in my osteopathic practice are:

  • Not using body weight enough to hold baby rather than using arm strength alone,
  • Looking down for too long and creating even more tensions in the back of your neck, and head
  • Increasing forward rounded shoulders by not activating muscles in your back,

are all contributing factors to neck tensions and pain. 

It’s often that we see moms struggling with tensions and pains when feeding a baby, whether breastfeeding or feeding with a bottle. Both are not straight forward. It takes time and a few adjustments to make this more natural and comfortable.

Of course, if we add the lack of sleep, whatever birth position you took, whether or not you had an epidural, etc, this all adds up and contributes to a higher risk of developing tensions and neck pain. You can read more on postpartum and back pain in this post.

Why does it matter?

All these bad posture habits create push and pull actions in certain areas of your body, and most of all on your linea alba, the midline on your abdominal muscles. 

This, in turn, will contribute to a higher risk of having diastasis recti (go to that post to see how you can self-test for it). Indeed, these push and pull forces will create even more forces placed on that area and weaken your abdominal muscles.

From this, you can easily understand that bad posture habits can definitely slow down your postpartum recovery. That’s why a postpartum recovery program not focusing on improving your posture first, won’t give you long-lasting results or no results at all. 

5 exercises for neck pain:

Here is a step-by-step detailed guide of the exercises for neck pain shown in the video:

This post contains affiliate links to amazon for pieces of equipment that I recommend getting. This means that I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through this link. I appreciate your support for getting this blog going!

neck pain exercises

1. Cat and Cows:

The most common mistake here is that we usually perform this with our hands directly below our shoulders. To have the most natural breathing and avoid placing too much pressure against your pelvic floor, you should slide your hands slightly forward. This way you’ll place the focus more on your upper back (which intends to have the most mobility in the flexion/extension movement we’re taking it through) rather than on your lower back.

Start on a quadruped position. Slide your hands forward. Round your back all the way up in the angry cat position, vertebra per vertebra. Then, drop the back down, arching the back and pulling the tailbone up.

Repeat.

neck pain exercise

2. T spine rotations:

This is a great exercise to help increase mobility in your upper back and help decrease tensions and pain in your neck. 

Start in a quadruped position, with your hands directly below your shoulders. Bring your right hand on the back of your neck. Bring your right elbow all the way up to the ceiling and then move it to your opposite wrist. Repeat 5 times.

Repeat on the other side.

exercise for neck pain

3. Thread the needle:

This brings great relief. This exercise for neck pain is a must-do especially after feeding baby. 

Start on your quadruped position. Bring your right hand across and through your left arm and leg. Place your right shoulder and your head to the mat. Stay there and breathe gently. Focus on feeling the tensions between your shoulder blades relaxing.  

Come back up and switch sides.

neck pain exercise

4. Shoulder mobility drill :

Tight shoulders are very often the root cause of neck pain. Bad posture habits contribute to limit the mobility of our shoulders. When done consistently, you will develop more and more mobility. 

Start seated with your back against a wall or a steady piece of furniture, with your feet together right in front you, knees bent. Use a soft ball (like this one), pillow or yoga block. 

On an exhale, bring the ball up, while keeping your shoulder away from your ears and your ribs stacked down. Touch the wall with the ball. Inhale, breathe out and bring the ball down. Breathe in again, breathe out and keep going.

Repeat 10 times and focus on keeping a neutral posture.

exercises for neck pain

5. External rotators strengthening:

A great neck pain exercise for re-opening your shoulders and counteracting the rounded shoulder posture. 

Seated on your knees, use a theraband (you can order some here) or you can do this exercise without any equipment. Keep your elbows to your sides and your shoulders down. Bring one hand to the side at a time while breathing out and control your way back. 

Switch sides every time and focus on keeping a neutral posture.

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About Leslie Abraham
She is the founder and owner of Bonjour Baby, and the creator of the prenatal and postpartum Bonjour Baby online courses. Leslie is a prenatal and pediatrics Osteopath DO (France), certified pre and postnatal personal trainer and women health coach. She has devoted more than 10 years of her career to help woman be ready for birth and recover from it in the following months and years.
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Get your FREE Postpartum Guide
And start your Postpartum Recovery now!
SEND IT TO ME!

Again, if you need more help and assistance to start your pregnancy support journey or your postpartum recovery, you can always reach out to me to schedule a free consultation. Always a pleasure to help and support Mamas during their journey!

Disclaimer: Bonjour Baby strongly recommends that you consult with your physician before beginning and enrolling in any exercise program, even if you are in good physical condition, not suffering from any complications, and able to participate in the exercise.
Bonjour Baby is not a licensed medical care provider and represents that it has no expertise in diagnosing, examining, or treating medical conditions of any kind or in determining the effect of any specific exercise on a medical condition.

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