Sub-Occipital Exercises
Whiplash Injuries / Neck Stress
Have the client lay supine... with their shoulders positioned at the very edge of the table so that they can extend their neck over the edge just a little, then have the client look up over their head, towards their feet, left and right... using eye movemeents only. They're not allowed to actually move their head... just their eyes. I usually have the client do a set of 10 reps and then check for progress. I usually include a couple effleurage after doing the eye exercises before continuing on to the tongue exercises.
Then try the tongue exercises, by again extending the neck over the edge of the table... and this time the client sticks out their tongue... towards their nose, their chin and left and right. I also have them do reps of 10 if they can for this exercises. Sometimes 5-7 is all a client can do. I follow it up with a few effleurage too.
It's not just good for people who've been in car accidents... but people who have a lot of neck stress too. (Work at computers, drive a desk, etc.)
Posted by maestra at: http://www.massageplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4006 (now the dead link... yippee for the Pearls Pages!!!)