Levator scapulae stretch: how to do it at a desk

The levator scapulae is a muscle that runs from the upper bones of your neck down to the inner top corner of your shoulder blade. This stretch is for people who feel a tight rope at the back corner of their neck after long stretches looking down at a laptop.

How to do it

1. Sit tall with your feet flat. Hold the seat of your chair with your right hand to keep your right shoulder down.
2. Turn your nose about 45 degrees to the left, toward your left armpit.
3. Nod your chin gently down in that direction until you feel a mild stretch at the back right corner of your neck.
4. Breathe slowly and hold for 20 to 30 seconds.
5. Lift your head back to centre, then switch sides.
6. Do 2 rounds on each side.

You are turning first and nodding second. If you nod first, the stretch lands in the wrong place and your neck ends up rounded.

What you should feel

A mild pull along the back-and-side of your neck on the side opposite your turn, sometimes running toward the top of your shoulder blade. The pull is broader and lower than the pinpoint stretch under your skull that a chin tuck gives. If you feel a sharp pinch at the front or side of your neck, back off. If the discomfort travels into your arm, stop.

Common mistakes

• Turning your head too far. At about 45 degrees your nose points toward your armpit; further than that, you are cranking your neck.
• Nodding too hard. Let the weight of your head do the work.
• Letting your shoulder lift. Anchor it with the chair seat, or press your shoulder gently down.
• Pulling with your hand. If you add a hand, rest its weight and do not drag.
• Rushing. A short, jerky stretch tells your body to guard.

How long and how often

There is little research that isolates this one muscle. The trials that exist tested stretching programmes with several muscles at once. A 2008 trial of 31 women with chronic neck pain compared two styles of stretching, both given with manual therapy. The conventional group held each stretch for 30 seconds, twice, for 30 minutes of each session, twice a week for 6 weeks ^[1]. A trial of 96 office workers with neck pain of at least three months gave a stretching programme twice a day, five days a week, for four weeks, and the authors reported lower pain and better neck function than a group given ergonomic advice only ^[2]. Those are examples of what was tested, not a target.

Reviews are more guarded. In a review of 27 workplace trials, stretching alone showed no clear difference, while neck and shoulder strengthening had moderate-quality support for reducing neck pain in office workers ^[3]. A separate review found the same pattern ^[4]. Use this stretch as a desk break, and pair it with strengthening such as the chin tuck and the scapular squeeze.

An easier and a harder version

Easier: turn less, skip the nod, and hold for 10 seconds. You should still feel a light pull.

Harder: add a light hand on the back of your head so its weight deepens the nod, staying at a mild effort. Stop pressing the moment the pull turns sharp.

At your desk

Nothing here needs space. Anchor a hand on the seat, turn, nod, hold, and switch. A screen set below eye level makes you nod for hours, so raise it and see whether you reach for this stretch as often; the monitor height calculator gives a starting height. The LaptopNeck coach calls this stretch "look-to-armpit".

Stop and see a clinician if

• You feel numbness, tingling or weakness in your arms or hands.
• Pain spreads down an arm.
• You feel dizzy or faint.
• You get double vision or other visual change, a drop attack, or new trouble walking or using your hands.
• Your neck pain began after an injury such as a fall or car accident.
• Your pain is severe or keeps getting worse.
• You have new or severe headaches.

This page is general information and cannot diagnose the cause of your neck pain.