Back & Neck Pain Exercise Home Office Ergonomics Guide Home Office Ergonomics Guide Overview Your Back Back Pain Exercises Anatomy General Tips Products Holistic Help Your Neck Neck Pain Exercises Anatomy General Tips Products Holistic Help Your Eyes Eye Strain Exercises Anatomy General Tips Products Your Shoulders Shoulder Pain Exercises Anatomy General Tips Products Your Wrists Wrist Pain Exercises Anatomy Products Your Hands Hand Pain Exercises General Tips Products Your Hips Hip Pain Exercises Anatomy General Tips Products Your Knees Knee Pain Exercises Anatomy General Tips Products Gentle Stretching Exercises for Your Neck By Laura Inverarity, DO Laura Inverarity, DO Laura Inverarity, PT, DO, is a current board-certified anesthesiologist and former physical therapist. Learn about our editorial process Updated on March 09, 2022 Medically reviewed by Laura Campedelli, PT, DPT Medically reviewed by Laura Campedelli, PT, DPT LinkedIn Laura Campedelli, PT, DPT, is a physical therapist with experience in hospital-based acute care and outpatient therapy with both children and adults. Learn about our Medical Expert Board Fact checked by Angela Underwood Fact checked by Angela Underwood LinkedIn Angela Underwood's extensive local, state, and federal healthcare and environmental news coverage includes 911 first-responder compensation policy to the Ciba-Geigy water contamination case in Toms River, NJ. Her additional health-related coverage includes death and dying, skin care, and autism spectrum disorder. Learn about our editorial process Print Daily living, poor posture, and injury often result in tight neck muscles. If you have neck pain or tightness in your neck muscles, your physical therapist can help prescribe the best exercises to help improve your ability to move your neck fully and with little or no pain. Stretching your neck can have a positive impact on your pain, posture, and overall mobility. Learn these four gentle neck stretching exercises that your physical therapist may prescribe to decrease muscle tightness. The exercises can be performed while lying on your back (to provided assisted support) or in the seated or standing position. Be sure to check in with your healthcare provider or physical therapist before starting these, or any other, neck exercises. Flexion Stretch: Chin to Chest Verywell / Ben Goldstein Begin each exercise with your neck in midline position. Your head should be centered and not tilted forward, back, or to the side. You can do this exercise while either lying flat on your back or sitting up. Gently bend your head forward while bringing your chin toward your chest.Stop when a stretch is felt in the back of your neck.Hold position for 20 seconds.Return to starting position.Repeat this four more times for a total of five repetitions. Some patients benefit from simply moving to the point of feeling a stretch and then releasing without holding the stretch. Your PT can show you the best way for your specific condition. Be sure to stop if you feel worsening pain in your neck as you are stretching. Extension Stretch: Eyes to Sky Verywell / Ben Goldstein Cervical extension involves looking up, and it can help relieve tension in your neck. Extension of your cervical spine may also be useful to help relieve pain from bulging discs in your neck. Begin each exercise with your neck in midline position. Your head should be centered and not tilted forward, back, or to the side. You can do this exercise while either lying flat on your back or sitting up. Gently bend your head backward so that your eyes are looking up to the "sky."Stop when a stretch is felt in the front of your neck.Hold position for 20 seconds.Return to starting position.Repeat this four more times. Again, some patients do better with this stretch by moving rhythmically from the stretched to the relaxed position. Your PT can help determine the best way to perform this stretch. Rotation: Side to Side Verywell / Ben Goldstein Begin each exercise with your neck in midline position. Your head should be centered and not tilted forward, back, or to the side. You can do this exercise while either lying flat on your back or sitting up. Gently turn your head to the left, looking over your left shoulder.Stop when a stretch is felt in the right side of your neck.Hold position for 20 seconds.Return to starting position.Repeat above stretch four times.Gently turn your head to the right, looking over your right shoulder.Stop when a stretch is felt in the left side of your neck.Hold position for 20 seconds.Return to starting position.Repeat above stretch four more times. If either rotation direction causes pain, stop and check in with your PT. Lateral Flexion: Ear to Shoulder Verywell / Ben Goldstein Begin each exercise with your neck in midline position. Your head should be centered and not tilted forward, back, or to the side. You can do this exercise while either lying flat on your back or sitting up. Gently bend your neck in attempts to touch your left ear to your shoulder.Stop when a stretch is felt in the right side of your neck.Hold position for 20 seconds.Return to starting position.Repeat above stretch four more times.Gently bend your neck in attempts to touch your right ear to your shoulder.Stop when a stretch is felt in the left side of your neck.Hold position for 20 seconds.Return to starting position.Repeat above stretch four more times. This exercise program can be performed daily to help relieve neck pain and tension. A Word From Verywell Everyone is different, and your specific neck condition may require unique exercises that are different from the ones in this program. But in general, if you have tightness in your neck, you should work on specific neck stretches to help improve your overall flexibility and neck mobility. Check in with your PT to learn the best exercises for your specific condition. Trapezius Muscle Anatomy and Function 3 Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. UpToDate. Patient Education: Neck Pain (Beyond the Basics). Meisingset I, Stensdotter A, Woodhouse A, Vasseljen O. Predictors for global perceived effect after physiotherapy in patients with neck pain: an observational study. Physiotherapy. 2018;104(4):400-407. doi:10.1016/j.physio.2017.01.007. Dedering, Å., Halvorsen, M., Cleland, J. et al. Neck-specific training with a cognitive behavioural approach compared with prescribed physical activity in patients with cervical radiculopathy: a protocol of a prospective randomised clinical trial. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 15, 274 (2014). doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-15-274 By Laura Inverarity, DO Laura Inverarity, PT, DO, is a current board-certified anesthesiologist and former physical therapist. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Medical Expert Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit