neck tension<\/a>, stick to gentle stretching, a warm compress or light manual massage instead of using more intense\u00a0percussive devices.<\/p>\nHyperextending Your Neck<\/p>\n
Hyperextension happens when you tilt your head far back, stretching the front of your neck and compressing the back. You might find yourself in this position while painting a ceiling, looking up at a screen or having your hair washed at a salon sink.<\/p>\n
While a quick stretch is perfectly fine, holding your neck in a hyperextended position for an extended period can be problematic. The issue relates back to the vertebral arteries, which thread through the small bony spaces in your neck vertebrae.<\/p>\n
When you severely tilt your head back for a long time, it can compress or \u201ckink\u201d these arteries, he explains. This compression can temporarily reduce the flow of blood to your brain. For most healthy people, this might only cause mild discomfort. But in certain individuals, this restriction can lead to dizziness, vision changes or even a stroke.<\/p>\n
To protect your neck, try to keep your spine in a neutral position\u00a0whenever you can, especially when lounging and looking at a screen for long periods. If you need to look up for a project, try to take\u00a0frequent breaks to look forward and roll your shoulders. And when you do need to stretch your neck backward, like at a hair salon, make sure your neck is properly supported with a rolled towel to avoid more extreme backward bending.<\/p>\n
Popping \u201cTriangle of Death\u201d Pimples<\/p>\n
While it sounds like a concept from a dramatic movie, the “triangle of death”\u2014also called the danger triangle\u2014is a real anatomical term. According to Chen, this area forms a triangle starting from the bridge of your nose and extending down to the corners of your mouth, covering your upper lip and parts of your cheeks.<\/p>\n
Most of us have squeezed a blemish at some point, but doing so in this specific zone carries a rare\u00a0risk beneath the skin. The veins in this facial triangle connect to deeper veins in your skull, which ultimately drain into an area called the cavernous sinus. The cavernous sinus is a hollow space located right under the brain, behind your eye sockets.<\/p>\n
When you pop a pimple, you break the skin and expose the area to bacteria from your hands and face. If that bacteria enters your bloodstream, it can travel backward through these veins into the cavernous sinus. A severe infection in this sinus can cause blood clots to form in an attempt to stop the infection from spreading.<\/p>\n
If a clot forms in or near the cavernous sinus, it can block blood flow, leading to serious neurological complications, brain infections or a stroke.\u00a0While this type of complication is highly uncommon today thanks to modern antibiotics, the risk still exists.<\/p>\n
Our Expert Take<\/p>\n
Our bodies are resilient, and it is important not to panic over everyday actions. The complications Chen warns about are rare, but they highlight the delicate and vital connections between our neck, face and brain.\u00a0Avoiding high-intensity massage guns on your neck, preventing prolonged neck hyperextension and leaving pimples in the facial triangle alone are simple, proactive steps you can take to protect your vascular health.<\/p>\n
If you experience sudden neck pain, unexplained dizziness or signs of a skin infection on your face, consult a health care professional for personalized medical advice and treatment.<\/p>\n
Read the original article on EatingWell<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reviewed by Dietitian Emily Lachtrupp, M.S., RD Credit: Design elements: Getty Images. EatingWell design. Key Points Avoid using…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[263828,263827,13200,97,263825,263826],"class_list":{"0":"post-607031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-artery","9":"tag-baibing-chen","10":"tag-blood-vessels","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-neck-hyperextension","13":"tag-vertebral-arteries"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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