Estheticians - How to Work on a Short Neck

Fortunately, we humans come in all shapes and sizes. How boring would life be if we were all the same? Some face and body shapes can create a challenge for us when we are performing esthetic services. One such challenge can come when our client has a short neck. 

We all have 7 cervical vertebrae, that is 7 neck bones, but they are smaller in some people than others. This can be challenging when we want to cleanse, massage and masque this area. Read these top tips to successfully treat this area of the body. 

Modify Your Cleanse

We often use a rollpatting technique when cleansing this area which can leave us very little room to perform on a short neck. Instead, modify your routine and use small circular movements with fingertips or even side to side across the front and covering the sides, being careful to lighten pressure over the trachea.

Elevate the Chin

Try this method to gain greater access to this region and place a rolled towel under the neck and upper back. The towel needs to be large enough to cause the head to tilt backwards slightly which elevates the chin. If the towel is too small and fits in the natural curvature of the neck, no space will be created at the front of the neck. This works great if you are massaging the front of the neck and decollete. Also try with cleansing, exfoliating and when applying a masque to this area.

Elongate the Neck

When massaging the back of a short neck, place a folded towel under the occiput, not the neck, but literally on the back of the head. This will slightly elevate the head creating space for you to access the small muscles in the cervical area. Stay mindful of keeping any massage movements smaller on a shorter neck to keep your massage feeling great to the client. This towel placement also works well to access lymphatics when giving lymph drainage massage and the acupoints located on the occiput during facial acupressure.

With the folded towel, notice the space behind the neck.

Without a towel, there is little space behind the neck.

Glide & Slide

Don’t be afraid to use these props, you won’t break the relaxation. Simply glide your hand under the neck and move your hand up to support the occiput as you position the towel in place. To remove the towel; gently lift the head slightly at the crown and slowly slide the towel away with your other hand.

If you found this info useful please share with a fellow esthetician or leave a comment below.