How to Fix a Pinched Nerve in the Neck: McKenzie Exercises and Nerve Stretches
Effective exercises that may help relieve a pinched nerve in the neck — including the McKenzie neck exercises and three targeted nerve stretches — demonstrated by a chiropractor with over 24 years of clinical experience.
A pinched nerve in the neck can be very painful. As well as neck pain, it often causes numbness, tingling, weakness, or loss of sensation that travels into the shoulder, arm, forearm, or hand.
In this video, our chiropractor Jasper Hulscher demonstrates two sets of exercises. First, the three-stage McKenzie neck exercises, which work to ease the pinching at the neck itself. Then three nerve-flossing stretches — for the median, ulnar, and radial nerves that run from the neck down to the fingers — to reduce the symptoms travelling into the arm and hand. Because each nerve produces symptoms in slightly different areas, the guidance is to try all three stretches and find the one that helps you most.
A key safety principle runs throughout: local discomfort in the neck during the exercises is acceptable, but you should not feel increased pain in the arm — if you do, ease back.
Related Reading:
Is chiropractic safe? What patients in Bury St Edmunds should know
Questions
What exercises help fix a pinched nerve in the neck?
What are the symptoms of a pinched nerve in the neck?
What are the McKenzie neck exercises and how do I do them?
How do I stretch the median, ulnar, and radial nerves?
What is nerve flossing?
Which nerve is affected if I have numbness in specific fingers?
Key Takeaways (timestamped)
[00:00] Symptoms of a pinched neck nerve — neck pain, plus numbness, tingling, weakness, or loss of sensation in the shoulder, arm, forearm, or hand.
[00:54] McKenzie neck exercises (3 stages) — a progression done sitting upright, shoulder blades squeezed together, making a “double chin” with two fingers pushing the chin in. Move up a stage only as each becomes easier and less painful.
[01:13] Stage 1 — upright, double chin, hold 5 seconds, repeat 10 times.
[01:48] Stage 2 — as stage 1, then tilt the head backwards, hold 1–2 seconds, return; 10 reps.
[02:26] Stage 3 — as stage 2, then move the head an inch left and right (a small “no” motion); 5 reps each side.
[03:15] Why arm symptoms happen — if pain, numbness, weakness, or tingling travels into the arm or hand, a nerve is likely trapped; stretching that nerve reduces the symptoms.
[03:57] Median nerve stretch — arm out to the side, shoulder down, wrist and fingers pointing to the floor, progressively taken back; ear tilted to the shoulder, then flossed. 10 reps.
[05:33] Ulnar nerve stretch — “okay” sign, hand turned so the little finger sits behind the ear; especially for numbness in the ring and little fingers. 10 reps.
[07:07] Radial nerve stretch — arm down and back, palm turned away, fingers turned outward, ear tilted to the shoulder; for symptoms in the outer elbow, forearm and back of the hand. 10 reps, three times daily.
Throughout: local neck discomfort is acceptable; increased arm pain means ease back.
Transcript
Introduction
This video is all about how to fix a pinched nerve in your neck. If you’re struggling with severe neck pain — and even pain in your shoulder, arm, forearm, or hand, or weakness, tingling, or numbness in the same area — you’re most likely suffering from a pinched nerve in your neck.
In this video I’ll share some really effective exercises to reduce and get rid of the pinching nerve in your neck, plus three effective stretches for the nerves that run from your neck to your fingers. By stretching these nerves in a particular way, you can reduce the symptoms in your arms too. Let’s get started.
McKenzie Neck Exercises
The first exercise is a fantastic one for removing the pinching nerve in your neck — the McKenzie exercises. There are three stages. I’ll go through stages one, two, and three, and you move up as each gets easier and less painful.
Stage 1
Sit upright and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Then create a double chin — keep your eyes on the horizontal and use two fingers to push your chin in. Hold for about five seconds and repeat 10 times. You’re allowed a little local pain in your neck, but you shouldn’t feel pain in the arm.
Stage 2
If that goes well, move on. The start is the same — upright, shoulder blades squeezed, double chin. Then tilt your head backwards and hold for one to two seconds, come back, and sit upright. Do 10 repetitions. Again, a little neck pain is fine, but no arm pain.
Stage 3
If that goes well, combine one and two — upright, shoulders together, double chin, head tilted back — and then move your head an inch to the left and right, as if saying “no.” Hold a few seconds; do five repetitions each side and return to the middle. A little local neck pain is allowed. That’s the first stage of getting rid of the pinched nerve.
Removing Arm Pain
If, alongside neck pain, you also have pain, numbness, weakness, or tingling in the arm, forearm, or hand, you’ve most likely also trapped a nerve, and we need to stretch it to reduce the symptoms. There are three nerves that run from your neck to your arm: the median, the ulnar, and the radial. I’ll demonstrate a stretch for each — follow along and find which works best for you.
Median Nerve Stretch
Stand upright and straighten your arm out to the side — straight elbow, straight wrist, straight hand — and depress the shoulder (keep it down, or push it down with the other hand). Bend your wrist so your fingers point towards the floor. If that’s manageable, move your hand and arm back a little, keeping the fingers pointing down and the wrist tilted back as far as you can. If that goes well, tilt your left ear to your left shoulder to really stretch the median nerve. Then floss it — either by bringing the head back to the middle and tilting again, or keeping the head to the side and bending and extending the elbow, or bending and extending the wrist and fingers. Do 10 repetitions; it may give symptoms in the hand, but they should reduce over time.
Ulnar Nerve Stretch
The ulnar nerve, when pinched, causes pain, weakness, numbness, or tingling in the arm and especially the ring and little fingers. Make an “okay” sign, placing your index finger on top of your thumb. Put the arm to the side, move the elbow back, turn the hand so the thumb faces the floor, and place your little finger just behind your ear with the fingers pointing down. Push your elbow back a little for a stretch, then tilt your left ear to your left shoulder. Floss it by moving the head back and forth, or by pushing the elbow back and forth. Repeat about 10 times; done daily this should reduce the symptoms in the forearm and hand.
Radial Nerve Stretch
The radial nerve, when impinged, causes weakness, tingling, numbness, or pain in the shoulder, upper arm, outer elbow, forearm, and back of the hand. Stand upright, arm to the side, shoulder down, palm facing down. Turn the palm away from you, bend the wrist, then move the arm backwards and down. Turn your fingers away from you (arm rotated inward), keeping the elbow straight, with the arm about 30 degrees out from the body. Hold the stretch, and tilt your left ear to your left shoulder to accentuate it. Floss by bringing the head forward through the groove, or by keeping the head tilted and bending and straightening the elbow. Do this about 10 times, repeated three times daily, to decrease symptoms in the elbow, forearm, and hand.
Closing
I hope you found value in this video and that it helps reduce your neck pain and arm symptoms. I’ve done more neck-pain videos on the channel, so check those out too. Take care of yourself, take care of someone else if you can, and bye for now.
Summary
A pinched nerve in the neck causes neck pain along with numbness, tingling, weakness, or loss of sensation that can radiate into the shoulder, arm, forearm, or hand. This video demonstrates two complementary sets of exercises. The three-stage McKenzie neck exercises — done sitting upright with the shoulder blades squeezed and a “double chin” position — work to ease the pinching at the neck, progressing through head tilts and small side movements as each stage becomes more comfortable. Three nerve-flossing stretches then target the median, ulnar, and radial nerves individually to relieve symptoms travelling down the arm; because each nerve affects a slightly different area, the advice is to try all three and use whichever helps most. The guiding safety rule is that local neck discomfort is acceptable but increasing arm symptoms mean easing back. Persistent or worsening symptoms — particularly weakness or numbness — should be professionally assessed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the symptoms of a pinched nerve in the neck?
As well as neck pain, a pinched nerve in the neck commonly causes numbness, tingling, weakness, or loss of sensation that travels into the shoulder, arm, forearm, or hand. The exact area depends on which nerve is affected.
What are the McKenzie neck exercises?
They’re a three-stage progression aimed at easing the pinching at the neck. You sit upright, squeeze your shoulder blades together, and make a “double chin” by using two fingers to push your chin straight back while keeping your eyes level. Stage one holds that position; stage two adds a backward head tilt; stage three adds a small side-to-side head movement. You move up a stage only as each becomes easier and less painful.
What is nerve flossing?
Nerve flossing is a gentle technique that slides a nerve back and forth through the surrounding tissue, rather than holding it in a static stretch. In these exercises you floss by moving the head or bending and straightening the elbow or wrist while keeping the rest of the position fixed. It helps reduce the symptoms a trapped nerve produces down the arm.
How do I know which nerve is affected?
The location of the symptoms is the clue. The ulnar nerve tends to cause numbness or tingling in the ring and little fingers; the radial nerve affects the outer elbow, forearm, and back of the hand; the median nerve runs down toward the palm side. Because of this, the video suggests trying all three stretches and using whichever most closely matches — and relieves — your symptoms.
Is it normal to feel symptoms in my hand while doing the stretches?
Yes — the nerve stretches can reproduce some symptoms in the arm or fingers as you do them, because they’re working directly on the nerve. Done regularly (around 10 repetitions, up to three times daily), they should reduce those symptoms over time. What you’re aiming for is a gradual easing, not an increase.
When should I see a chiropractor about a pinched nerve?
If symptoms persist despite the exercises, worsen, or you develop significant weakness or numbness in the arm or hand, it’s worth having the cause professionally assessed rather than continuing on your own.
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