I sometimes have to deal with my giraffe neck, and whenever there’s a relapse due to my long time cervical radiculitis with facet joint degeneration and multilevel degenerative acquired neuroforamina stenosis, I resort to a few tools from my fitness/rehab shed. Three different tools for your enjoyment. No medieval torture, three levels of neck pain relief: passive, set-it-and-forget-it, and active.  The neck pump helps create traction and open up the cervical vertebrae. It promotes better flow of fluids, which can be compressed when the curvature is abnormal and cause premature aging. You can pump and release, increasing the pressure gradually and do it rhythmically, or you can pump to a certain level of pressure, then increase after a few minutes and so on, depending on your pain level/threshold. You do this while lying on your back. You can strap your neck for stability, but I don’t always do it. The name? Cervical Disc Hydrator by Posturepump.

The headband is a skull balancer invented by Dr Tominaga. There are small weights,which are made of rubber/foam. I wear them on the back on my head as having them in the front gave me forehead dents that made me look like a Klingon for a day (hello, bangs…). It literally feels like your head weighs a lot less, freeing up neck movement (I don’t feel the usual grinding in my neck) which has a domino effect of benefits. How to get it in the US? I’m working on it! For now, you can fly to Japan…

The strap requires some education, and it also effectively creates traction by facilitating neck flexion, extension, tilting by doing a series of alternating pulls on each strap, by cradling the neck at various positions on the vertebrae and crossing below your nose, at the cheekbone or the temple.  I recommend being shown how to use it by a professional, the same way I was taught. Easy to carry, weightless, I use if whenever I relapse, along with my other tools. The white part is rubberized for grip to avoid slipping on your skin.  It’s called a Mulligan Selfsnag Cervical Strap.