Neck & shoulders
Phone neck, tight traps, headaches, and jaw tension. The front-body story behind them.
Most people work on the back of the neck when the front of the chest is the part that has shortened. These articles walk through what is happening from collarbone to skull and how to give the neck room to move again.
Answers
- Why does my neck hurt from looking at my phone?When your head drifts forward, the muscles at the back of the neck have to hold it there against gravity for hours. But the reason your head sits forward is usually the front of the body: a shortened chest and the SCM and scalene muscles along the side of the neck. Open the front first and the back of the neck stops having to work overtime.
- Why are my shoulders always tight?The upper traps feel tight because they are holding, not because they are short. Rounded shoulders and a closed chest leave the shoulder blades poorly supported, so the traps grip all day to make up for it. Releasing the chest, the front of the shoulder, and the lat usually calms the traps faster than working the traps.
- Why does opening my chest help my neck?The chest and the neck are on the same continuous line of connective tissue. The pectoral muscles connect to the collarbone and ribs, and the SCM and scalenes attach to the same structures from above. When the chest shortens it pulls the whole front of the neck down and forward, so lengthening the chest gives the neck its position back.
- Why do I get headaches that start in my neck?Tension at the base of the skull, in the upper traps, and in the SCM commonly refers pain up into the head, behind the eye, or across the temple. These headaches usually build through the day, sit on one side, and follow long screen sessions or stressful stretches. Easing the chest and the front of the neck often changes the pattern within a week or two.
- Why does my jaw feel tight and clenched?The jaw is one of the first places the body braces under stress, and clenching often continues through the night. The masseter and temporalis get dense, and because the jaw connects into the throat, the SCM, and the chest, tension there rarely stays local. Gentle jaw work paired with chest and neck release tends to settle it best.
- Why do I have a knot under my shoulder blade?That spot between the spine and the shoulder blade is usually not a knot that needs breaking up. It is tissue working overtime because the chest and lat are short and the shoulder blade is sitting forward. It is one of the clearest examples of pain showing up where the tissue is stretched and loaded rather than where the restriction is.