Stretch? Strengthen? Both? It’s both, isn’t it?

I started my week by getting a root canal.

You know, just for fun.

Ok, so it wasn’t any fun but starting my week with two hours in the dentist’s chair sure makes the rest of my week seem very straightforward.

I know a lot of people get stressed about dental work but I’m not all that fazed by the procedure itself, I just hate the cursed chair.

Even though I know I am only leaning back a little, I always feel like I am practically upside down.

And, to make matters worse, once I am in the chair, I can never get my neck in a comfortable position for the procedure so I often end up getting a headache or a migraine after a trip to the dentist.

So, in the interests of migraine prevention, I made sure to take the day off yesterday so I could rest and take good care of my neck after I got home from the dentist.

And in the course of doing some (very gentle) neck stretches, it occurred to me that since I often have neck troubles, it might be helpful for me to do more preventative stretches on a regular basis.

That’s when I discovered the dilemma in my title.

Are my neck muscles tight because of how I use them (perhaps putting unnecessary strain on them) so they need to be stretched regularly?

Or perhaps my neck muscles are actually weak and they need to be strengthened instead?

Maybe it’s both?

Let’s be real here – it’s almost definitely both.

Luckily, a lot of the strengthening exercises I found are similar to stretches I already do but when you add reps, they magically become strength training instead.

And that makes them feel infinitely more doable.

So, let’s give it some time and see if combining the two will make some of my activities less of a pain in the neck.

I don’t know if it will help at the dentist though, I think that’s going to require a fancy neck support of some kind.

PS – Have I talked about my neck before? Definitely!

Have I come to this same conclusion before? It is entirely possible.

Let’s just carry on, shall we?