The Learning Curve

Maintaining a proper cervical curve by strengthening weak muscles can ease many common pains in the neck.

By Julie Gudmestad

Car accidents are another common cause of a flat neck. When an automobile collides with something, it stops suddenly, and if your seat belt is fastened, so does your body. Your head, however, is unrestrained, free to go flying forward and then back. In those few seconds, the ligaments and muscles on the back of your neck are overstretched violently. That damage, commonly known as whiplash, can contribute to neck pain, spasms, and headaches after the accident.

Reestablish Your Curve

When your posterior neck ligaments and muscles are overstretched, whether suddenly by a one-time violent event, like a car wreck, or more gradually by your spending hours each day with your head forward and chin dropped, the soft tissue at the back of your neck loses its ability to support a normal cervical curve. The neck vertebrae and soft tissue are no longer in their optimal alignment and can cause chronic pain. On a long-term basis, a flat neck can contribute to pinching, bulging, and even rupturing of the cervical disks.

Because a forward head position often accompanies a flat neck, there may also be chronic tension in the neck muscles. Picture your head as a bowling ball sitting atop your neck, two or three inches in front of the center of your shoulders; that's more or less the situation you're in when you're looking at papers flat on your desk. In this position, the muscles at the back of the neck must constantly contract to hold up the weight of your head against the downward pull of gravity.

That constant isometric contraction limits the blood flow into the muscles so that metabolic waste products build up, irritating the muscle to the point of pain. Additionally, the constant pull of the muscles on their attachments to the base of the skull is a common cause of headaches.

Fortunately, both the practice of yoga asanas and the yoga of daily life--using the alignment principles and awareness you gain on the mat elsewhere in your life--can help turn all of these problems around. If you have a flat neck, your first task is to learn to reestablish a normal curve in as many situations as possible: sitting at your desk, standing in line at the grocery store, lying in bed, and--yes--doing yoga.

When you're lying flat on your back, you can support the cervical curve by using a rolled-up towel or a small cylindrical pillow made for just that purpose. Don't put the support under your head; instead, place it directly under your neck.

You can also help eliminate habitual flattening by making sure to elevate the surfaces you look at: Place your computer screen up on risers; wean yourself from looking at the keyboard when you're typing. Rather than placing a book you're reading flat on a table, lean it against a stack of other books. Use a small inclined desk or other inclined surface to do your paperwork.

It's a good idea to check the curve of your neck several times a day, simply using your hand to feel whether your neck is curved or flattened. You should also do this while practicing yoga, as a normal cervical curve is desirable in the vast majority of postures.

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