Exercise therapy is used to treat many diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Simple and safe exercises save us from various ailments. What exactly to do if your neck hurts? In this case, exercises come to the rescue of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine.
The neck is one of the most vulnerable places.
The neck is actually very vulnerable and requires careful handling. The vessels that feed the brain pass through it, as well as the nerves, through which the signals that regulate our activity (motor activity, for example) enter the body.
Our neck is in tension most of the day, since its muscles need to continuously support the head, whose mass reaches 2 kg or more. Normally, the muscles cope with their task. But add to this the awkward and irregular postures we tend to adopt, the prolonged immobility. We load the muscles unevenly, depriving them of rest and obstructing the blood supply.
The first problems with the cervical spine arise precisely due to excessive fatigue of the neck muscles. Typical symptoms are leakage and muscle fatigue. This main problem is solved with a simple massage, which I will talk about a little later.
Often people do not pay attention to such symptoms, therefore we are talking about the treatment of a problem that has turned into a disease - cervical osteochondrosis.
Hence the importance of charging for the neck with osteochondrosis.
How Physical Therapy Can Save You From Pain
With the development of the acute stage of cervical osteochondrosis, first of all, it is necessary to eliminate the pain syndrome. When the pain symptoms disappear, you can begin treatment with exercise therapy. This is a set of exercises for cervical osteochondrosis, which includes a series of head movements, including isometric exercises for the neck.
Gymnastics for the neck with osteochondrosis is a must. Without it, the treatment will not give the desired effect. In fact, without a strong muscular corset, the spine will continue to suffer the vertical pressure of gravity.
The natural root cause of all spinal diseases is severity. Its vector is perpendicular to the earth's surface. Now imagine what happens to the spine if this load does not press it strictly vertically. For example, this happens when we are hunched over, sitting at the table, immersed in different roles.
The neck is bent, inclined 45 degrees from vertical, if averaged. Due to the gravity of the head, there is a slight diagonal displacement of the vertebrae relative to each other. The intervertebral cartilages experience an unusual load for them, over time they are erased and deformed.
Normally, even this position is compensated by strong neck muscles, but what strong muscles can we talk about when a person barely moves? That's the problem.
If we delve into this topic, then nutrition, more precisely, the lack of joint-forming substances in food complicates the situation. Cartilage tissue is already slowly renewing itself, and if the body lacks the necessary substances, it has nothing to renew itself from.
So the main cause of osteochondrosis is gravity. But strong muscles can make this process difficult. This means that weak neck muscles are already a secondary cause of osteochondrosis. Hence the conclusion: if cervical osteochondrosis has started, exercises will help to solve this problem.
Exercise therapy strengthens neck muscles, relieves pincers, and improves blood circulation. This is an effective method for the treatment of osteochondrosis and for the prevention of its progression in the future.
Thus, the problem can be solved by comprehensively acting on all the reasons for its occurrence:
- Strengthen your neck muscles with neck exercises for osteochondrosis. Exercises for cervical osteochondrosis will be given below.
- Avoid incorrect postures and sitting without moving for a long time in one place.
- Take special supplements for the joints or develop a complete diet for yourself.
It is better to do everything at the same time.
In addition to osteochondrosis, another unpleasant thing can happen to the neck - hypothermia. In this case, no amount of exercise will help until the inflammation subsides. Do not delay treatment for a long time.
And another option, limited mobility of the head. In this case, you need to carefully knead the neck and do it for the neck with osteochondrosis to the amplitude that allows you to perform the movement without pain.
About seasickness
The thinning of the intervertebral discs in the cervical spine leads to the fact that the nerve endings can be pinched. In addition to the nerves, the blood vessels also suffer. This leads to a lack of oxygen supply to the brain and manifests itself in the form of dizziness. There are other symptoms: headache.
There are also exercises for dizziness with cervical osteochondrosis. In fact, they are the same as for osteochondrosis. Its meaning is to stretch the tense muscles, strengthen them, release the nerves and blood vessels from the forceps.
In general, any physical exercise for osteochondrosis (without loads) improves blood circulation throughout the body, including a more intense blood exchange between the body and the head. Our brain receives more nutrition and oxygen, and this affects productivity.
Resistance exercises are not recommended for cervical osteochondrosis. They will definitely not save you from osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, but they can accelerate the process of cartilage breakdown.
For various diseases of the spine, exercises with weights must generally be performed with great care. Depending on the disease, movements that give vertical load to the spine, flexion of the back, etc. can be excluded.
How long should I do exercise therapy?
Human laziness has no borders. We often stop studying as soon as the problem disappears. A person engages in fitness while losing weight. As soon as he has achieved the desired result, everything stops. With disease, this approach is not only ineffective, it is also fraught with recurrence of disease.
For the prevention of cervical osteochondrosis, you need to periodically take care of your neck. This is easily done at home. Also, it doesn't take long. The process is very pleasant: the sensation of warmth and relaxation in the muscles will not keep you waiting.
You can also buy a neck brace and wear it during acute periods. But here are some niceties. Having gotten used to artificial support, you can live your whole life, because the corset supports the head instead of the muscles. And this is not useful at all for the cervical spine. As a result, the muscles eventually lose their tone.
The therapeutic effect of exercise against cervical osteochondrosis lasts from 2 weeks to a month. If you stop exercising as soon as your muscles lose tone again, you risk experiencing headaches and difficulty turning your head again. Therefore, exercises to strengthen the neck muscles in this case play a very important role in maintaining comfort.
So decide: to do exercises for osteochondrosis or not.
Neck gymnastics complex
It is better not to do any exercise with exacerbation of cervical osteochondrosis. Your doctor should treat acute symptoms first. After all, if it hurts to move your head, all the gymnastics will be painful.
The most effective exercises for cervical osteochondrosis are very simple: head movements plus isometric muscle tension. Everything is done very simply: at home, at work, on the road.
Here is an approximate set of exercises (let's agree that the starting position is to sit upright, with your hands on your knees):
- In the starting position, gently turn your head to the right until it stops, then to the left. Feel your neck muscles stretch. The nuance here is this: turn your head and try to turn it a little more without jerking, hold this tension for 5 seconds. In general, any exercise for the spine should start with exercises to strengthen the muscles of the neck. These include developing your flexibility and strength. Do 5 laps in each direction.
- Now tilt your head to the side so that your ear is close to your shoulder. No need to lift your shoulder! In the same way as in the previous movement, maintain the tension. If you have a flexible neck, use your hands to bring your ear to your shoulder. If it hurts, do the movements with painless breadth! Make 5 curves to the right and left.
- Now make circular motions with your head clockwise and counterclockwise. 8 movements in each direction. Slowly! You can support your head with your hands. This is an effective gymnastics for osteochondrosis of the neck.
- The warm-up is over and now the strength exercises: place your right hand on your right temple. Try to tilt your head to the right and avoid this movement with your hand. Make an effort to make it heavy, but your head is moving in the right direction. 10 times in each direction (to move to the left, use the other hand, respectively).
- Now grab your head from behind (occipital region) and, through the resistance of your hands, try to tilt the back of your head back 5 times, then 5 times move your head back in a horizontal plane. It will be cast 10 times in total.
- Now rest your palms on your forehead and tilt your head down through the resistance of your hands (bring your chin to your chest). Do this 10 times, then move your head horizontally forward through resistance (like pigeons while walking).
- And finally, you can stretch the trapezoid by raising and lowering your shoulders. Raised - delayed for 2-3 seconds (pull up), lowered - relaxed. Do 10 reps.
- Pull your neck in different directions, the gymnastics is over. Do all of this once a day. This is an excellent neck exercise for osteochondrosis.
What other exercises can you do? For example, due to the flexibility of the neck. These are also exercises for the neck muscles, but they also pull on the tendons. This will make your neck more flexible.
Additional flexibility exercises
This exercise should be performed not only with osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, but also, in principle, at the beginning of 30-40 years. At this age, the breakdown of muscle fibers begins, the loss of flexibility is gaining an especially fast momentum, if you do not participate in your physical fitness.
- Stretch the chin to the chest, support the head with your hands.
- Use your hands to tilt your head to the side so that your ear touches your shoulder. Stretch the side of your neck with your hand.
It's enough. And remember what you can not do with cervical osteochondrosis - work with pain.
Massage elements
When your head hurts or your neck is stiff, you can grind and knead the muscles.
Remind:
- The muscle that supports our head is attached to the back of the head. Run your index and middle fingers over the muscle from the back of your head and down, applying moderate pressure (so it doesn't hurt, but it's nice). Move this muscle up to shoulder level.
- Now we feel the trapezoids with our hands and we love them. The trapezoid is located between the neck and the shoulder from the back. After such simple manipulations, it seems that you are reborn.
Among other things, make sure your neck doesn't burst. After the massage, it warms up and is more vulnerable to cold than ever.
And finally, we remind you that although cervical osteochondrosis manifests itself acutely, it is not necessary to perform therapeutic exercises.
To summarize: if you perform the exercises listed in the article, the osteochondrosis of the cervical spine will not completely disappear (after all, the cartilage is already damaged), but the condition will improve markedly, the forceps, the pain symptoms will disappear, the the disease will stop progressing. Therefore, you can forget about this unpleasant ailment and live a full life.
But remember, neck exercises for osteochondrosis should be done regularly.