If your neck aches after a day at the screen, if you’ve been
told you have “forward head posture”, or if a nagging pain has started
travelling down your arm — this page is for you. You have
probably already tried the YouTube routines: chin tucks, ear-to-shoulder
stretches, the five-minute fix. Those exercises are often perfectly
reasonable. What no video can do is examine your neck. At
Somalynk in Ixelles — near Place du Luxembourg and the EU quarter —
treatment starts with a functional and movement diagnosis, so the
exercises and hands-on techniques you get are the ones your neck
actually needs. Consultations in English, French and
Spanish.
Trust strip: MSc Orthopaedic Manual Therapy,
University of Zaragoza (with honours) · Statistical Editor at Cochrane ·
PhD candidate in chronic pain (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) ·
INAMI-conventionné n°5/58395/34/527
👉 Book a consultation
— or read on: Is “tech neck” real? ·
Pinched nerve? · Safe things to try at home
“Tech neck” and forward head posture — an honest
look
You have seen the test: take a selfie from the side and check whether
your ear lines up with your shoulder. If it doesn’t, the video says,
your posture is “damaging” your spine and one daily exercise will fix
it.
Here is the more honest version:
- The discomfort is real. Hours of looking down at a
phone or laptop loads the muscles at the back of your neck and upper
back in one sustained position. Sustained, unvaried load is genuinely a
common trigger for neck ache, stiffness and tension-type headaches. - The “damage” story is weaker than the videos imply.
Research comparing people’s head-and-neck posture with their pain has
repeatedly found a much looser link than you’d expect — plenty of people
with “textbook-perfect” alignment have neck pain, and plenty of people
with a forward head position have none (Damasceno et al., 2018, Eur
Spine J; Richards et al., 2016, Phys Ther). - The better frame: your neck likes variety and capacity, not
one “correct” position. The problem is usually not that you sit
“wrong”, but that you sit the same way for too long, in a neck
that has lost some mobility or strength to tolerate it. That is why the
fix is rarely a posture brace or a single miracle exercise — it is
restoring movement where it’s lost, building capacity where it’s
lacking, and breaking up long static periods.
So no — you have not bent your spine into a permanent “hunchback” by
using your phone. And yes — what you feel at the end of a screen day is
worth addressing, because it responds well to the right combination of
movement, hands-on treatment and workstation habits.
Why this matters for treatment: two people with the
identical side-profile selfie can need opposite programmes — one has a
stiff upper back that needs mobilising, the other an irritable nerve
that end-range stretching would aggravate. A protocol can’t tell them
apart. An examination can. That is the core of how we work: no
automatic protocols — every plan follows a functional and movement
diagnosis.
The
five-minute-fix videos — what they get right, and the one thing they
can’t do
We analysed the most-watched patient videos on neck pain and posture
(millions of views each). Credit where due: most of the exercises they
show — chin tucks, upper-trapezius and levator stretches, shoulder-blade
squeezes, wall angels — are standard, sensible tools, and several of the
presenters are careful clinicians.
But across all of them, four things are consistently missing — and
they are exactly what a consultation adds:
- Screening. None of the routines checks for the
signs that mean self-treatment should stop and a medical review should
happen first (see red flags below). One video
mentions that looking up “can make people feel dizzy” and simply
suggests modifying the exercise — dizziness provoked by neck positions
is something we take more seriously than that. - Individual assessment. The routines assume every
stiff neck has the same cause. In practice we distinguish (at minimum) a
mobility deficit, a motor-control deficit and joint-level restriction —
and the treatment differs for each. - Progression. Almost all video content is stretching
and postural holds. Lasting change in a neck that must tolerate desk
work usually also needs progressive strengthening —
gradually loaded exercise that builds the capacity of the neck and upper
back, not just momentary relief. - An endpoint. A video’s job is to keep you watching.
Our job is to get you to the point where you don’t need us — a plan with
a defined goal, re-tested as we go.
If the videos have already fixed you: excellent, genuinely. If you’ve
been doing them for weeks and the same ache keeps returning, that is
usually the sign that the missing ingredient is the assessment, not more
repetitions.
“Pinched nerve” — when neck pain travels down
your arm
That nagging pain that runs from the neck into the shoulder blade or
down the arm, sometimes with numbness or tingling reaching the
hand, is what patients call a pinched nerve — clinicians say
cervical radiculopathy (irritation of a nerve root in the
neck). Two honest points:
- Most cases improve well without surgery, with a
combination of relative rest from aggravating positions, graded
movement, hands-on treatment and time. The natural course is more
favourable than the intensity of the symptoms suggests (Wong et al.,
2014, Man Ther). - This is the diagnosis where copying a video is
riskiest. A popular approach online is to repeatedly extend the
neck backwards over the edge of a chair to “centralise” the pain. For
some disc-related presentations that direction genuinely helps.
But the same movement can significantly aggravate other causes of arm
pain — for example when the small openings the nerves exit through are
narrowed (foraminal stenosis). Which one you are is not guessable from
symptoms alone; it is exactly what a clinical examination, including
neurodynamic (nerve-mobility) testing, is for.
Escalate — do not self-treat — if: the arm is
becoming weaker (dropping objects, grip failing), numbness is
spreading, symptoms are in both arms or the legs, or the pain is
worsening steadily over two weeks despite sensible care. Those signs
need medical assessment, and recognising them is part of our job.
Woke
up with a “crick in your neck”? Stiffness, spasms and tension
headaches
The classic acute episode: you wake up and your neck is locked to one
side, or a long stressful week ends in a band-like tension
headache climbing from the neck to the back of the head.
Reassuring facts first:
- An acute “crick” (sudden painful stiffness, often after sleep or an
awkward position) is almost always benign and typically settles over
days. - Keep it moving gently. Within comfort, gentle
rotation and normal daily activity beat a collar or total rest. - Heat, short-term relative rest from the provoking position, and
gentle range-of-motion work are reasonable first steps; see the home guidance below. - Headaches that start in the neck (cervicogenic headaches) often
respond to treating the upper cervical joints and the surrounding
muscles — an area where hands-on assessment earns its keep. Evidence for
manual therapy in headache is modest and mixed, so we say that
plainly rather than promising a cure.
When it is not “just a crick”: if the stiffness
comes with fever, severe unremitting pain, follows a real trauma (fall,
collision), or brings neurological symptoms (weakness, marked numbness,
dizziness or visual disturbance tied to neck positions) — see the red-flag list and get medical advice first.
Cracking your own neck — why it feels good, and
why it doesn’t fix the cause
Many people with a stiff, achy neck twist it until it pops, feel
better for an hour, and repeat — sometimes many times a day. What is
actually happening:
- The pop is not your spine realigning. It is
cavitation — a gas bubble forming in the fluid of the joint as
the surfaces separate (shown directly on MRI by Kawchuk et al., 2015).
Nothing moves “back into place”. One popular video tells viewers a pop
during stretching means the spine is “adjusting itself and realigning” —
that is anatomically incorrect, however satisfying it sounds. - The relief is real — but temporary and
neuromuscular. The stretch triggers receptors around the joint
that briefly reduce muscle tone and increase range. It genuinely feels
looser. It just doesn’t change the underlying mechanics, which is why
the urge returns. - You are probably cracking the wrong segment. The
segment that pops easily is the mobile one. But in a typical
stiff neck, the segment driving the problem is the stiff,
restricted one — often lower down or in the upper back — which your
self-twist never reaches. Manual-therapy research illustrates this well:
treating a stiff (hypomobile) upper-back segment can relieve symptoms at
the neck level above it (Krauss et al., 2008). Chasing the mobile
segment can leave you in a loop: temporary ease, unchanged cause. - Is it dangerous? The habit itself has not been
shown to damage your joints — the closest well-studied analogue,
habitual knuckle-cracking, shows no cumulative harm. Serious injuries
from neck manipulation are rare, acute and force-related, not the
profile of a gentle habitual self-cracker. So we won’t tell you that
you’re injuring yourself. We will tell you it’s a loop that
never treats the cause.
The way out is to find the restricted segment and
its direction, free it with the appropriate technique, and give you the
mobility and strength work that makes the urge fade on its own.
(Read more: cracking your own neck
— the full article.)
Safe things to try at home this week
Honest guidance, not gatekeeping. If your neck pain is recent, mild,
and none of the red flags apply, these are
reasonable first steps — the same general advice we would give a
friend:
- Break up static time. The single highest-value
habit: change position briefly every 30–45 minutes. Your neck tolerates
almost any posture for a short while and almost no posture for
hours. - Chin tucks, done right. Glide the chin straight
back (making a “double chin”), not down to the chest. Gentle,
5–10 slow repetitions, a few times a day. A reasonable tool — neither
the miracle some videos promise nor the waste others claim when selling
an alternative routine. - Gentle stretches. Ear towards shoulder for the
upper trapezius; nose towards the opposite knee direction for the
back-of-neck muscles. Ease in, hold about 30 seconds, no forcing, no
pushing into arm symptoms. - Shoulder-blade work. Slow shoulder-blade squeezes
(“back and down”) or wall angels open up the upper back that desk work
closes down. - Workstation basics. Screen top near eye level,
separate keyboard if you use a laptop, forearms supported. For sleep, a
single pillow that keeps the neck roughly neutral is a sensible starting
point. - Heat and normal activity for an acute crick; keep
moving within comfort.
Stop and get assessed if: any exercise sends pain,
numbness or tingling down the arm; symptoms are clearly
worsening over 1–2 weeks; or relief never outlasts the exercise session.
Recurring right back to baseline is the classic sign that a generic
routine is missing your specific driver.
When to see a doctor first — red flags
Most neck pain is benign. A short list of signs means medical
review before physiotherapy — and screening for them is part of
every first assessment here:
- Progressive weakness in an arm or hand (grip
failing, dropping objects), or numbness/clumsiness affecting
both hands or the legs - Dizziness, fainting, visual disturbance, slurred speech or
facial symptoms provoked by neck positions or movements - Neck pain after a significant trauma (fall, traffic
collision) - Fever or feeling systemically unwell with severe
neck stiffness - Unrelenting night pain, unexplained weight loss, or
a history of cancer - A sudden, severe, “first and worst” headache
None of these on the list? Then physiotherapy assessment is an
appropriate first stop — and if anything in the examination suggests
otherwise, referring you on promptly is part of the job.
Your first
consultation — we diagnose, we test, we adapt
No automatic protocols. Here is what actually happens:
- History and your goals. How it started, what
provokes and eases it, your screen habits, sleep, stress and load — and
what you want back (pain-free workdays, sport, sleep). - Functional and movement diagnosis. Movement
analysis, strength, joint-by-joint assessment of the neck and upper
back, neurodynamic (nerve-mobility) testing where arm symptoms are
present. If you bring imaging or a medical diagnosis, we use it
— and still make our own functional diagnosis, because movement
is what we actually treat. - A test treatment, same session. We treat according
to our first hypothesis and see how your neck responds. That response —
not a template — steers the following sessions.
Depending on your presentation, the emphasis differs: in an
acute episode, reproducing and then reducing your
mechanical pain guides us; in a stable or recurring
problem, functional evaluation leads, aiming squarely at reducing
relapse. In chronic neck pain we also work on the
cognitive and emotional side of persistent pain — stress, worry about
the neck, protective habits — which is Philippe’s active research field
(PhD in chronic pain and lifestyle, VUB). Every plan combines
manual techniques + specific exercise (e.g. motor control
training) + evidence-based practice, in each session, with a
defined endpoint.
Practical info: reimbursement, prescription,
location
- Prescription and reimbursement. Philippe Tadger is
a conventionné physiotherapist (INAMI n° 5/58395/34/527): fees follow
the official INAMI schedule, with no supplements. A standard session
costs €31.64, of which your mutuality reimburses €25.39 — you pay a
fixed co-payment of €6.25 (€2.50 with preferential status/BIM), and the
one-time intake at your first session is reimbursed in full. A medical
prescription is required for reimbursement; you can consult without one,
but the session is then fully at your charge. International insurers
(Allianz Care, Cigna Global, Aetna, BUPA) accept our invoices — worth
checking if you are an expat or EU-institution staff. Full details and
the current official tariffs: pricing &
insurance · INAMI sources: official
tariffs (PDF), fixed
co-payments. - Location. Ixelles, near Place du
Luxembourg and the EU quarter — a short walk from
Bruxelles-Luxembourg station. - Languages. Consultations in English, French
and Spanish (Spanish native).
About Philippe Tadger
Philippe Tadger is a musculoskeletal physiotherapist with 15+ years
of international experience (Venezuela, Colombia, Spain, France,
Belgium). MSc in Orthopaedic Manual Therapy (Zaragoza, with honours),
Statistical Editor at Cochrane, PhD candidate in
chronic pain (VUB), postgraduate osteopathy in progress (Collège Belge
d’Ostéopathie) — osteopathic techniques inform, but do not replace, his
physiotherapy practice. The same person who treats your neck also
appraises the studies behind every claim on this page — which is why the
claims are graded honestly rather than sold.
Frequently asked questions
Is “tech neck” a real condition? The discomfort is
real — sustained screen postures load the neck and upper back and
commonly trigger ache, stiffness and headaches. The idea that phone use
permanently deforms your spine is not supported; the link between
posture itself and pain is looser than most videos imply. Think load and
variety, not damage.
Can forward head posture be corrected? Head position
can usually be improved with mobility and strengthening work — but the
more useful goal is a neck that tolerates your day comfortably, not a
perfect side-profile selfie. Which exercises get you there depends on
what the assessment finds.
I’ve done the YouTube exercises for weeks and the pain keeps
coming back. Why? Usually because a generic routine is missing
your specific driver — a stiff upper-back segment, a motor-control
deficit, an irritable nerve. That’s an assessment question, not a
repetitions question.
Is it bad that I crack my own neck? The habit hasn’t
been shown to damage your joints, so we won’t scare you. But the relief
is temporary and neuromuscular — the pop changes nothing structurally —
and the segment you crack is usually the mobile one, while the stiff
segment causing the problem goes untreated. That’s why the urge keeps
returning.
What does the popping sound actually mean? Gas
cavitation — a bubble forming in the joint fluid as surfaces separate
(visualised on MRI, Kawchuk 2015). Not bones realigning.
How do I know if my arm pain is a pinched nerve?
Pain running from the neck into the arm, especially with numbness or
tingling towards the hand, suggests nerve-root irritation. Most cases
improve without surgery, but this is the presentation where unassessed
exercises are riskiest — and progressive weakness means medical review
first.
Should I stop working at a screen until it settles?
Usually no. Modify — raise the screen, break up static periods, adjust
the provoking positions — rather than stop. Total rest tends to prolong
the problem.
Do I need a prescription to book? You can book
without one, but a medical prescription is required for mutuality
reimbursement — without it, the session is fully at your charge. Details
on the pricing & insurance
page.
Will one session fix it? An acute crick may settle
quickly; a recurring, screen-related problem usually needs a short
structured plan — hands-on treatment plus specific exercise — with a
defined endpoint. The first session’s test treatment tells us a lot
about how fast yours will respond.
Can I be treated in English? Yes — English, French
or Spanish.
👉 Ready to stop guessing which exercise your neck needs? Book a consultation.
References
- Kawchuk GN et al. Real-time visualization of joint cavitation.
PLOS ONE 2015. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4398549/ — the
“pop” is gas-cavity formation, not realignment. - Krauss J et al. The immediate effects of upper thoracic translatoric
spinal manipulation on cervical pain and range of motion. J Man
Manip Ther 2008. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2565124/ —
treating the stiff (hypomobile) segment can relieve symptoms at the
mobile one. - Bronfort G et al. Effectiveness of manual therapies: the UK evidence
report. 2010. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2841070/ —
evidence stronger for spinal (incl. neck) pain, more modest/mixed for
headache. - IFOMPT — Definition of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy. https://www.ifompt.org/About+IFOMPT/OMPT+Definition.html
- Damasceno GM et al. Text neck and neck pain in 18–21-year-old young
adults. Eur Spine J 2018;27(6):1249-1254. — no meaningful
association between “text neck” posture and neck pain. - Richards KV et al. Neck posture clusters and their association with
biopsychosocial factors and neck pain in Australian adolescents.
Phys Ther 2016;96(10):1576-1587. — posture clusters relate only
loosely to pain. - Wong JJ et al. Man Ther 2014 — natural-course review of
cervical radiculopathy: the majority improve with conservative
care.
Internal links: Manual Therapy in Ixelles ·
Cracking your own neck · About
Philippe Tadger · Book an appointment / contact