Slow, gentle movement in every direction your neck will comfortably go, and nothing forced. If your neck is stiff or sore, the stretches below are simple ones to try first. None of them is a treatment on its own. Each one stays inside what feels easy, and each one comes with the signs that mean stop.
Why a neck stiffens
A neck usually stiffens because of what it has been asked to do, or not do, over the last day or so. Hold it in one position for hours, whether that is leaning into a laptop through back-to-back meetings, reading a phone on the train home or sleeping with your face turned into the pillow, and the muscles that have been holding it there start to feel tight and reluctant.
Other things feed it: a new exercise at the gym, a long drive, a cold office, or shoulders that creep up towards your ears on a stressful week. If yours builds across a working day and eases on the weekend, the desk side of it is covered in why does my neck hurt after a day at my desk?
Gentle neck stretches to try
These neck stretches are general, not a programme written for you. Sit or stand tall, move slowly, and breathe normally. Aim for a mild stretch you can hold while chatting, then hold it for a few slow breaths and come back to the middle. Do each one a handful of times on each side. No fast circles, no bouncing at the end of the movement, and no pushing through a sharp or catching pain.
- Chin tuck. Keeping your eyes level, slide your chin straight back as if making a double chin, then let it forward again. It moves the head straight back over the shoulders, the reverse of leaning in towards a screen, and uses the deep muscles at the front of the neck.
- Turning to each side. Turn your head slowly to look over one shoulder as far as it goes easily, pause, come back through the middle and turn the other way. Keep your shoulders facing forward.
- Side bend. Tip one ear down towards the shoulder on the same side without lifting the shoulder to meet it. Pause, come back up, then go the other way.
- Looking down, and up a little. Let your chin drop gently towards your chest and come back up. Look up only as far as is easy, and leave looking up out altogether if it makes you feel dizzy or light-headed.
- Shoulder rolls. Lift both shoulders towards your ears, draw them back, then let them drop, slowly, with the arms loose.
- Upper trapezius stretch. Hold the edge of your chair with your right hand and tip your left ear towards your left shoulder. You can rest your left hand on your head for its weight, but do not pull. It is aimed at the muscle running from the base of the skull to the top of the shoulder. Swap sides.
- Levator scapulae stretch. Holding the chair with your right hand, turn your head partway to the left and then look down, as if towards your left pocket. It is aimed at the muscle running from the upper neck to the top corner of the shoulder blade. Swap sides.
Stop and get it checked if a movement brings on dizziness, blurred or double vision, pins and needles or numbness in an arm or hand, or pain that spreads into the shoulder blade or down the arm, or if the pain climbs while you are doing them rather than staying where it was. A stretch that only feels uncomfortable can be made smaller.
If you woke up with a stiff neck
Neck pain from sleeping awkwardly is a familiar way to start the day. Hours spent turned to one side or bent over a pillow that is too high or too flat, a nap on the couch, a night on a plane: the neck spends a long time at the far end of one movement, and it tells you about it in the morning.
Look at the pillow and the position first. On your side, the pillow should fill the gap between your ear and the mattress so your head sits roughly level with the rest of your spine. On your back, it can be lower. Sleeping face down keeps the neck turned the whole night, so if that is your habit it is worth noticing on the mornings the stiffness turns up.
Through the day, keep the neck moving gently within what it allows, using the turns and tucks above in small ranges rather than wrenching it to see if it has let go. People commonly reach for a warm shower, a heat pack, a massage or something from the pharmacy. Whether any of those suits you comes down to what feels comfortable, and for medicines your pharmacist or GP is the person to ask. A stiff neck that arrives with a fever, a headache or a rash is a different matter entirely, and the first sentences at the end of this page cover it.
Is it a problem if your neck cracks?
Neck noises are common. Plenty of people hear a click, a pop or a gritty sound when they turn their head, and on its own a noise does not tell you much.
What is worth changing is the habit of neck cracking on purpose. Twisting your head hard to the end of its turn, or pushing on your jaw until something gives, is the opposite of the gentle movement described above, and doing it over and over is not something to keep up. If the clicking comes with pain, or you feel you need to click your neck all day to get through it, get it looked at rather than chasing the noise.
If your real question is about having your neck adjusted by someone else, that has an article of its own: is chiropractic safe, and what does the evidence actually say? Here, an adjustment is one option and never automatic, and if you would rather your neck was not adjusted, slow joint mobilisation with no thrust and no click can be used instead.
Other questions about a stiff or sore neck
- How often should I do them? There is no set number that suits everyone. A few gentle movements whenever you have been still for a while tends to sit better in a working day than one long session you push hard.
- Should I still stretch if my neck is sore? Gently, and within what it allows. If one movement makes the pain sharper, leave that one out, and if any of the stop signs above appear, stop altogether and get it checked.
- Can a stiff neck come with a headache? Often the two turn up together, and some headaches do start in the neck. The pattern is set out in can a headache really start in your neck? A headache with a fever and a stiff neck is the emergency described below, not something to stretch.
- Who should I see about it? If anything in the GP sentence below applies to you, your GP first. Otherwise you can book an assessment directly. Dr Laith Musallam, chiropractor, starts with your story, then tests how far your neck turns and bends, which movement brings the pain on, and the nerves into your shoulder and arm, and looks at the desk, the phone and the pillow as well. What that assessment looks at is set out under neck pain, and the care that can follow under headache and neck pain care.
When to get it looked at
Some signs mean a stiff neck is not a stretching question at all.
Call an ambulance if there is any confusion, sudden weakness or numbness in the face, arm or leg on one side, facial drooping, slurred speech, sudden trouble speaking, seeing or understanding, loss of vision, a seizure, or a sudden loss of balance or coordination. Call an ambulance or go to a hospital emergency department straight away if a headache comes on suddenly and severely (the worst you have ever had), if a headache arrives with fever, a stiff neck or a rash, or if a headache follows a knock to the head. Go to a hospital emergency department straight away for back or neck pain after a serious fall or a high-impact accident, such as a car accident; back or neck pain with a fever or feeling generally unwell; or new back or neck pain if your immune system is weakened, for instance by long-term steroids or chemotherapy, if you inject drugs, or if you have recently had a spinal injection, spinal surgery or a dental procedure.
Go to a hospital emergency department straight away if you have weakness in one arm that is severe or getting worse, or numbness in an arm that is spreading or getting worse quickly. Go to a hospital emergency department the same day if you have new clumsiness in both hands, or new unsteadiness on your feet.
See your GP promptly, before booking here, if you have pins and needles, numbness or weakness in an arm or hand, a history of cancer, unexplained weight loss, pain at night that will not settle in any position, or known osteoporosis with new severe pain.
Otherwise, it is worth booking an assessment if your neck is not settling, keeps coming back, or is stopping you turning your head to check a blind spot. We will explain what the examination found, work on what we find, and show you which of these movements suit your neck.