Dear Ducky

Oooh! Oooh! I forgot that as the author of a blog, I may get to respond to questions from readers, like Dear Abby or Dan Savage.

Very exciting.

I would *love* to answer questions, if you have them - you can leave them in a comment, as Laura B. did with my first question, or email them to sara@waxingmoonmassage.com

So let's get to her question:

Dear Massage Therapist,

Do you have any tips for relieving necks that are stiff from from hours sitting in front of a computer screen. (Tips that, of course, would only be stop gap measures between Waxing Moon Massage appointments?)

Signed,
Sore Entrepreneur

Dear Sore Entrepreneur,

Most of us know that we don't stretch enough - we notice when the incessant nagging of our bodies finally overcomes our absorption in whatever we're doing on the computer for long enough to get food or run to the bathroom. It seems like many people think that stretching is something they need to set aside time to do - like taking a yoga class, or spending a half hour doing it in the morning.

While those things would also be great, I often try to encourage my clients to take one minute each hour at work just to shake out the position they've been in.

Most people who work with computers a lot have shoulders that roll inward and downward, so taking a moment to lift your shoulders up, then roll them backward in a few circles can help open up your chest.

You'll probably notice yourself taking in a deeper breath as you do this - some of the most important muscles involed in breathing are between the ribs (internal and external intercostals) and between the ribs and cervical spine (scalenes.) Unsurprisingly, these muscles can get pretty stuck together when we spend hours shallowly breathing and locked in position.

The scalenes are flat, sheath-like muscles on the front and sides of the neck that run under the clavicles (collarbones) and insert on the ribs. Moving your neck (gently!) through its full range of motion, as much as possible, helps to loosen things up, but to really work your scalenes, you can do a "pin & stretch."

To do this, you shorten the muscle that you're wanting to stretch - i.e. tipping your head forward and to the right to shorten the muscle on the front right side of your neck. Then use the side of your finger to gently "pin" the muscles in place - right above the clavicle is a good spot - and slowly move your head back in the other direction. You don't really need very much pressure to do this, and you'll probably find you don't need to move very much to feel the stretch. You can experiment with moving to different areas to see what feels most useful.

Just remember that there are lots of nerves and other delicate structures in the neck - if you can feel a pulse, don't hold pressure there. Use common sense to avoid things like shooting pain/tingling or compressed breathing passages.

Last thing - you can also do a pin & stretch on your forearms, which get tired from typing and mousing. Again, shorten the muscles by placing your palms up, then bending at the wrist toward you. Pin, and gently stretch. It's nice, too, to do a little kneading and squeezing on your forearms to fluff them up.

I hope that helps!

Your Faithful Massage Therapist,
Ducky

p.s. I know that my name is Sara and not Ducky, but it's way more fun to have a pen name, don't you think?

p.p.s. Just a reminder that as a massage therapist it is not within my scope of practice to actually give clients exercises to help with specific issues - that would fall within the purvue of physical therapy - these are just some general ideas, with which you may experiment at your own peril (and hopefully, relief!)