Talking Wellness with Peter: Treating Neck Pain

In this video, Dr. Peter Borten explains why he’s seen neck pain become so prevalent in the last decade, and shares some really effective and easy ways you can treat (and avoid) your own neck pain at home.

Do you have tips for combatting neck pain? Please share with us in the comments below!

25 thoughts on “Talking Wellness with Peter: Treating Neck Pain

  1. I have been dealing with neck pain for weeks and chiropractor just hasn’t helped. I’ll try this! Thank you!

    1. You’re welcome. I hope it’s helpful!

  2. Well done, as usual, Peter. Your exaggerated emotion and verbiage helped me better understand; “We would never go to the gym to work one specific muscle, alone, with no reprieve, for one hour solid.”
    I look forward to your teachings and almost read, without comment due to time constrictions…but want you to know: Your work and time taken in offering these videos is helpful and brings about a more peaceful world.

    1. Thank you Peter, info very helpful. I like the idea of rolling a ball near the rhomboid muscles.
      Peace
      Denise Patnod (;

      1. You’re welcome, Denise. Yes, it’s a great and important area to work, with multiple layers of muscle – not just for the rhomboids, which produce pretty localized pain, but also trapezius, levator scapula, serratus posterior superior, etc…
        Be well,
        Peter

    2. Thank you, Susan! I appreciate your kind words.

  3. Thank you! I look forward to trying all of your recommendations!

    1. You’re welcome, Kathy

  4. Thank you. I look forward to trying all of your recommendations!

  5. Thank you, Peter! Loved the acupressure points discussion and the lacrosse ball massage recommendation. Very helpful and spot on for the neck pain.

    1. You’re welcome, Angela!

  6. Wow! I’m really amazed. It really worked. I found the one point that took away my neck pain instantaneously. Thank you!

    1. I’m so glad to hear it!

  7. Thank you! I’ll share with my students! As a functional movement educator, I often use TuneUp yoga balls or the Franklin Method to facilitate release in the scapula and neck. Often, the neck is recruited to act as the abs or for the back body if those areas are weak. I use body rolling to help students release tight patterns and then support them to re-activate the muscles that should be used for their tasks. Since it’s spring, folks are getting out to garden. They often hinge at the neck! Ouch!

    1. Thanks, Alexa. Yes, one of the other places I’ll often check is the psoas – part of the overall curling/flexion of the whole body from postural stress – and it’s amazing when the psoas released and then the neck is instantly better.

  8. Wow those acupressure points in the hand really help! Thank you!

    1. You’re welcome, Michelle. Glad to hear it.

  9. Wow!! Those acupressure points are amazing!! Thank you! I suffer from scapula pain frequently. I think I’ll order a lacrosse ball stat.

    Question: I recently had fusion surgery at l4 l5 and my low back pain is nearly gone entirely. However, now I get hip pain, specifically when I lie on either side. The pain is only on the left side and is deep. It seems to originate on the outer hip/high thigh area and radiate inward toward the groin. My Dr. thinks it’s bursitis, but I’d really like some suggestions. I gained a lot of weight with the surgery and am wondering how much of this could be related to that.

    Thank you for what you do!!
    Bergen

    1. Hi Bergen. I’m glad the points helped. It’s hard to know what’s going on with your hip without seeing you. When the pain radiates toward the groin, it IS somewhat more likely to be coming from the joint itself, rather than the surrounding muscles. Bursitis would be better than arthritis, though. It just means the bursa is inflamed, which can be alleviated with acupuncture, massage, dietary supplements, and certain forms of physical therapy. Arthritis (osteoarthritis) would mean the cartilage is worn away in that joint, which is a harder thing to fix. There are also some muscles in the lower back, abdomen, and thigh that can refer pain to this area. The first muscles that come to mind are the psoas, rectus abdominis, and the thigh adductors (the muscles of the inner thigh) such as adductor magnus and adductor longus and brevis. You can look these muscles up, along with the words “trigger point” and see the common pain patterns they produce. They may be something a good massage therapist or acupuncturist could address rather quickly. You might also check out my online course, Live Pain Free, for some additional ideas.
      Be well.

  10. This was extremely helpful. I will try it and let you know how well it works.

    1. Thanks, Sue. I hope it works.

  11. Wow… I would like to know.. would the pain be found on the top of hand only or could be more on palm side? ( like inside.) I get headaces that start from base of neck, and shoulders, regularly. And sometimes sharp shooting like pains. May happen if IHoick up my water, or reach.for a.door, and it hurts. Numbness through put arms to fingers. So as I was trying these pressure points, I instantly found on the first area that it sent chills but it hurt, I rolled my neck as you suggested, but the sensations or painful side felt as if it more on palm side! Am I doing this wrong?
    And what causes the needles and “sleepy feet and hands?” Over the years it has got so much more intense! Very uncomfortable!

  12. Hi Stacy.
    It’s possible to find effective pressure points on the palm side of the area that I described. If they’re tender, try pressing on them – if they work, great!
    If you’re spontaneously experiencing numbness in this area, it indicates something else. It could be due to muscle tension in the forearm, but given the neck and shoulder involvement, I’d guess it’s more likely related to that region. It could be due to a disc/vertebra problem in the neck, though more commonly, it’s due to muscular tension in the neck / chest / shoulder region. Sometimes individual muscles, such as the scalenes, can cause a pain pattern like what you describe. Other times, it’s a condition known as “thoracic outlet syndrome” – where a bundle of nerves (and probably nearby blood vessels) are being compressed by one or more structures in the neck/shoulder/chest. Most commonly this is due, again, to the scalenes muscles at the front/side of the neck, though it could also occur from tension in a chest muscle called pectoralis minor, or a muscle under the collar bone called subclavius. It’s worth getting evaluated by a skilled massage therapist, an acupuncturist who specializes in physical medicine, or some other clever & open-minded structurally-oriented healthcare provider (perhaps an osteopath, physical therapist, or chiropractor). Good luck and be well,
    Peter

  13. Thankyou peter ive had neck pain for years due to a horse riding accident i will try this

  14. Peter, thank you! Tender spots all around. My neck has been an issue for a long time. This seems to really help.

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