Following manual therapy, a physical therapist should teach you how to perform a Sustained Natural Apophyseal Glide, or SNAG, for short. This SNAG exercise is a way to provide yourself your own form of manual therapy. Essentially this exercise mimics the manual therapist's hands and provides a joint mobilization to the dysfunctional joint.
To perform:
Use the EDGE of a towel. Using the edge, and not the middle or folded up towel, is important as you don't want the towel to slip off of your skin.
Place the edge of the towel on the dysfunctional segment.
Anchor the towel with your the hand on the same side as your dysfunctional segment as shown.
With your opposite hand, reach up and grab the edge of the towel. If you give it a slight tug, you should feel a pulling/stretching sensation behind your neck at the dysfunctional segment. You should not feel any of your symptoms.
While pulling the towel (towards your opposite ear), turn your head towards your hand at the same time and hold this position for 3 seconds. Only turn your head in your painfree range of motion.
That's 1 rep. Now repeat 10 times.
Perform this exercise twice a day.