The one-two-three neck stretches

Good for old whiplash injuries, your posture, and maybe even snoring!

Mar 07, 2024

Video of neck stretch demonstration during mat class
Fixed my whiplash injuries!
Cautions!
Spreading the movement load across many joints and improving the posture
Gapping the side joints of the neck and healing the side joint arthritis
Summary: a really nice postural kind of stretch

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Fixed my whiplash injuries!..

These neck stretches fixed my chronic whiplash injury (from wrestling a stag - 30 years ago - I used to be a veterinarian). I no longer suffer from a burning ear and side of neck, and my head and neck ache are much reduced. I also no longer get dizzy when lifting my head off the pillow or during pilates classes (PHEW)! So I am certain that these stretches are safe for me and will be safe for you too.

Do them like I do! - Two or three times a week in small doses and slowly and gently. Do them for the rest of your life and you massively improve your neck comfort.

Cautions!

Do not perform neck stretches within 12 weeks of a whiplash injury, and if you are in severe neck pain or have tingling or weakness in the arms, speak to a health professional first.

Spreading the movement load across many joints and improving the posture

By applying the neck stretches in a one-two-three sequence you are less likely to dump all the movement into the lower joints of the neck, these are the joints that sustain the most damage from whiplash (intervertebral joints C6-C7 and C7-T1).

With "one-two-three", you instead spread the movement load throughout the vertebrae, starting low (at T5 - in the upper chest) to C1 (in the upper neck). This provides an additional layer of safety not available in standard neck stretches. You will feel that safety, and you may well find that ease and range of movement will quickly increase. And you will have a healthier, taller, more attractive posture!

Gapping the side joints of the neck and healing the side joint arthritis

The side-of-neck One-Two-Three stretches are gentle (no areas of tension or scrunching!). Their primary purpose is to gap the side-of-neck joints (uncovariate joints and facet joints).

Picture 1: A neck vertebra seen from above. The facet joints are visible. The uncinate (or horn-like) processes are also visible. In adults, the uncinate processes protrude more and start rubbing against the overlying vertebra. They are very prone to arthritis-like rubbing and damage, and this is especially common after a whiplash injury.

Picture 2: Side view of the neck vertebrae. You can clearly see the uncinate (or hornlike) processes and the sort of arthritis that develops in them during chronic whiplash and with sustained poor posture.

Picture 3: Side view of two neck vertebrae. Can you imagine how the side neck one-two-three stretch can gap these joints? Joint gapping can be very beneficial in dissolving boney spurs and roughness, and normalising the ligaments that connect the sides of the joint.

Summary: a therapeutic and posture promoting stretch

By gapping the joints we can soften and dissolve any bony spurs that are trying to bridge across them. By gapping the side neck joints with just a minimal stretch in the superficial muscles (trapezius and sternocleid-mastoid), there is an additional safety and comfort factor. It's a really nice postural kind of stretch. I hope that many people will learn to enjoy it.