Neck pain symptoms (such as your shoulder and neck pain) can have different causes. In other words, different root causes can produce the same symptoms. So we first would need to find out what is causing your shoulder and neck pain.
The body is a unit and should be treated as such. Your shoulder and neck pain are signals from the body that something is wrong and should be changed. This does not necessarily mean that you should strengthen the area that is painful because it is weak. I suggest you look in the mirror first (or have someone look at your posture) and see what your head and upper back position is like. More likely than not, it is forward. Are your shoulders hinged forward as well? That could be a big clue as to your pain and symptoms.
The body is a unit and should be treated as such. Your shoulder and neck pain are signals from the body that something is wrong and should be changed. This does not necessarily mean that you should strengthen the area that is painful because it is weak. I suggest you look in the mirror first (or have someone look at your posture) and see what your head and upper back position is like. More likely than not, it is forward. Are your shoulders hinged forward as well? That could be a big clue as to your pain and symptoms.
But it’s likely only a part of the issue. What is very important as well is the position of your pelvis and hips, and their functionality / flexibility. The pelvis is, literally, the base of the spine and if the base is tipped forward or back, or rotated, or elevated in some way, the whole jenga tower will be stacked wrongly. As a result the body will compensate in various ways which will likely result in loss of function and/or causing pain.
Furthermore, when strength training in the gym (with or without weights/machines) I always say straighten before strenghten - meaning get your body functional and aligned first, before adding weight. If not you could end up strengthening your dysfunctions and getting in even more pain.
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What I think would be best is for you to see a postural alignment specialist. Either in one of the Egoscue clinics (see www.egoscue.com) or an independent certified specialist (worldwide - see also Egoscue - Stop Chronic Pain for names and locations). What you can also do is to get one of Pete Egoscue’s books which are excellent (see for example Amazon reviews). His second book, Pain Free, also contains a chapter about head and neck pain as well as a chapter about shoulder pain, with corresponding exercises. However these are still general recommendations and a personal consult is best to see what is going on in your body.
Hope this helps!
Richard
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