The Truth About The "Rolled Towel Technique": Chiropractor Reveals Everything You Need To Know About This Homemade Neck Practice
By Adam Story, Doctor of Chiropractic
Aug 7th, 2022 l 9:17 am EDT
People all over the world are using a rolled-up towel to perform homemade techniques in order to relieve neck pain, reverse bad posture and even that ugly neck hump.
But can these practices actually replace your chiropractor appointments and restore your neck health?
As a chiropractor, I am often asked by clients if alternative techniques like neck massages or the “rolled towel” work well enough to replace dedicated neck health practices like specific stretches, exercises and interventions.
Do These Homemade Techniques Actually Work To Eliminate Neck Pain?
The truth is that while these alternatives may help to temporarily reduce the pain and discomfort, simply massaging or hanging your neck with a towel won’t have any noticeable or long-term impact on your neck health, neck hump or posture.
Besides being a little tricky to do it alone, most of the time - if you're not an experienced physician - chances are that you won't apply the adequate amount of pressure or the right angle to have an effective impact on your neck muscles and posture.
If you are looking for something to effectively eliminate neck pain and reverse bad posture, I would instead recommend investing in a good device that performs what's really important for the neck:
An evidence-based technique known as cervical traction.
The cervical traction technique (a fancy name for “stretching your neck at the exact angle of 26 degrees”) is proven to:
- eliminate neck pain
- decompress the spine and lengthen tight muscles
- release muscle tension
- restore the natural curvature of your neck
This is because when you stretch the neck at this specific angle, it essentially “unlocks” your neck.
Decompressing the discs, releasing pressure on pinched nerves and lengthening tight muscles. Nutrient-rich blood flow also floods into the neck, aiding in the reversal of damage.
This works to eliminate neck pain, poor posture and fight against neck hump.
‘Nowadays it’s very common for people to spend a large part of their day hunched over a desk, TV, or smartphone.
This is something that really harms the muscles in your neck and upper back…
Compressing the discs in the vertebrae…
And making your neck stiff and sore.
And to heal them / undo this damage, you need to perform “cervical traction” to your neck - and there are few products that actually do what’s necessary to achieve this.
In the last 3 years I’ve tested hundreds of neck products… (so you don’t have to)
And in this review I’ll share with you my top 3 products that actually helped me and my clients eliminate neck pain and restore a confident posture:
When I first discovered it, this product truly blew me away.
A top chiropractor teamed up with a US-based health start-up - known as Kenko Back…
And designed a device that perfectly simulates the cervical traction technique I talked about.
By stretching the neck at the angle of 26 degrees…
I'd never heard of Neck Cloud until a colleague of mine showed me this product some years ago and I've been recommending it to my clients ever since.
Besides being time and cost-effective, this product is completely safe and simple to use - without requiring any pulleys or electricity.
This makes it possible for you to heal your neck and correct your posture from the comfort of your home without having to visit your chiropractor’s office every week.
Its curved design stretches and decompresses the neck, while the acupressure points target and releases tight muscles.
The reason that Neck Cloud was my number one pick is that it has this perfect combination (perfect stretch + acupressure points) that fights…
- neck pain
- neck hump
- desk posture
- and tension headaches
And the best part is that it only takes 10 minutes a day to see results!
What blew my mind even more was the fact that the company stands behind its product with a strong guarantee.
This means that if you use the product for 60 days (yes, 60 days) and are not satisfied with the results, you are eligible for a full refund!
The only negative aspect of this product is that you won’t find it in any retail store. You can only buy it online on their official site (HERE) and they get sold out pretty fast.
So, if it’s available for purchase now I recommend getting your hands on one as you don’t want to be waiting for new stock to arrive!
Neck Relax is a little more expensive, but if you are a high-tech geek you will like this device.
The product uses a combination of infrared heat, electric pulses and ultrasound to massage the neck and eliminate neck pain and tension headaches.
It’s a portable and compact device that you can use anytime between 10 and 30 minutes per session to achieve significant relief in your neck muscles.
The main negative points of this product are…
- It doesn’t target the root cause of neck pain (only massages but doesn’t stretch the neck)
- It requires constant recharging and changing batteries - which makes you spend more money in the long run.
Another downside is that the company doesn’t offer a guarantee, so you may be at risk of being disappointed with your purchase - and not getting your money back.
For these reasons, I ranked this device as number #2 in this review.
This product is a compact and somewhat portable device that functions as a hammock that stretches your neck.
I say “somewhat” because it requires some kind of structure - generally a door - so you can attach it to and hang your head.
My main critique of this product is that it doesn’t stretch the neck at the correct angle of 26 degrees - failing to perform the cervical traction the right way.
This product works for some users, but I’ve heard testimonials of people that hurt themselves because they didn’t set the device the correct way, making the straps of the device slip after a few minutes of use.
And this accounts for the major downside of this product: it requires a complicated setup.
It comes with straps and pulleys that you have to attach to your door, which can be a little confusing and turn into one big hassle.
Furthermore, some patients complained about the device hurting their ears and putting too much pressure on their neck, making their whole head numb.
This can be a little inconvenient, making it difficult for you to relax - which invalidates the main purpose of the product.
For the reasons above, I ranked this device as number #3 in this review.
