Exercise therapy is used for many musculoskeletal disorders. Simple and safe exercises save us from various ailments. What exactly to do if the neck hurts? In this case, exercises with osteochondrosis of the cervical spine will help.
The neck is one of the most vulnerable places
The neck is really very fragile and requires careful handling. Vessels that supply the brain run through it, as well as nerves that carry signals that regulate our activity (e. g. motor skills) into the body.
Our neck is tense most of the day, because its muscles have to constantly hold the head, the mass of which reaches 2 kg or more. Usually the muscles do their job. In addition, however, there are the uncomfortable and irregular postures that we like to adopt, the longer immobility. We load the muscles unevenly, deprive them of rest and impede blood circulation.
The first problems with the cervical spine arise from 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 go into later.
Often people do not pay attention to such symptoms, so we are talking about treating a problem that has turned into a disease - cervical osteochondrosis.
Hence, it is important to charge the neck with osteochondrosis.
How physiotherapy can save you from pain
With the development of the acute stage of cervical osteochondrosis, it is first necessary to get rid of the pain syndrome. When the pain symptoms go away, treatment can be started with exercise therapy. This is a series of exercises for cervical osteochondrosis that involves a range of head movements, including isometric exercises for the neck.
Neck exercises for osteochondrosis are a must. Without them, the treatment will not achieve the desired effect. In fact, without a strong muscular corset, the spine continues to suffer from the vertical pressure of gravity.
The natural cause of all spinal diseases is gravity. Its vector is perpendicular to the earth's surface. Now let's imagine what happens to the spine if this load isn't strictly vertical. This happens, for example, when we sit hunched over at the table and are immersed in various papers.
The neck is curved, inclined 45 degrees from vertical when averaged. Due to the heaviness of the head, there is a slight diagonal shift of the vertebrae to one another. The intervertebral cartilages experience unusual stress for them, over time they are erased and deformed.
Usually this position is also balanced by strong neck muscles, but what kind of strong muscles can one speak of when a person barely moves? That's the problem.
If you go deeper into this topic, then the diet, more precisely the lack of joint-building substances in the food, complicates the situation. Cartilage is already slowly renewing itself, and when 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 hinder this process. This means that weak neck muscles are already a secondary cause of osteochondrosis. Hence the conclusion: if cervical osteochondrosis has started, then exercises will help solve this problem.
Exercise therapy strengthens the neck muscles, relieves tension and improves blood circulation. This is an effective way of treating osteochondrosis and preventing its progression in the future.
So, by comprehensively addressing all the reasons for its occurrence, the problem can be solved:
- Strengthen the neck muscles with neck exercises for osteochondrosis. Exercises for cervical osteochondrosis are given below.
- Avoid bad posture and prolonged sitting motionless in one place.
- Eat special joint supplements 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 movement will help you until the inflammation has subsided. Do not delay treatment for too long.
And another option, limited head mobility. In this case, you need to carefully knead the neck and perform the neck with osteochondrosis to an amplitude that allows you to perform the movement painlessly.
About dizziness
A thinning of the intervertebral discs in the cervical spine causes nerve endings to become pinched. In addition to the nerves, the blood vessels also suffer. This leads to an insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain and manifests itself in the form of dizziness. There are other symptoms - headache.
There are also exercises for dizziness in cervical osteochondrosis. In fact, they are the same as in osteochondrosis. Its importance is to stretch and strengthen the tense muscles, to loosen the nerves and blood vessels from the clamps.
In general, any physical exercise in osteochondrosis (without exertion) improves blood flow throughout the body, including more intense blood exchange between the body and the head. Our brain gets more food and oxygen, which affects productivity.
Resistance exercises are not recommended for people with cervical osteochondrosis. They definitely won't save you from osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, but they can speed up the process of cartilage breakdown.
In the case of various diseases of the spine, exercise exercises should generally be carried out with great care. Depending on the disease, movements that place vertical stress on the spine, back flexion, etc. can be ruled out.
How long should you do exercise therapy?
Human laziness knows no bounds. Often times we stop studying as soon as the problem is gone. A person is engaged in fitness in losing weight. Once he has achieved the desired result, everything stops. In the case of disease, this approach is not only ineffective, but also fraught with return of the disease.
To prevent cervical osteochondrosis, you need to regularly look at your neck. It's easy to do at home. Besides, it doesn't take much time. The process is very pleasant - the feeling of warmth and relaxation in the muscles will not make you wait.
You can also buy a ruff and wear it in acute phases. But there are some subtleties here. Accustomed to the artificial support, one can live a lifetime, because the corset holds the head instead of muscles. And that doesn't make sense at all for the cervical spine. As a result, the muscles eventually lose their tone.
The therapeutic effects of exercise for cervical osteochondrosis last from 2 weeks to a month. If you stop exercising as soon as your muscles become toned again, you risk headaches and difficulty turning your head again. Therefore, exercises to strengthen the neck muscles play a huge role in maintaining comfort in this case.
So make up your mind - whether or not you want to do exercises for osteochondrosis.
Neck exercise complex
It is better not to do exercises with an exacerbation of cervical osteochondrosis. Your doctor should treat acute symptoms first. If moving your head hurts, any gymnastics will be painful.
The most effective exercises for cervical osteochondrosis are very simple: head movements plus isometric muscle tension. Everything is very easy - at home, at work, on the go.
Here is a rough series of exercises (let's agree that the starting position is sitting straight, hands on knees):
- In the starting position, turn your head gently to the right as far as it will go, then to the left. Feel your neck muscles stretch. The nuance here is: turn your head and try to turn it a little further without twitching, hold this tension for 5 seconds. In general, all exercises for the spine should be started with exercises to strengthen the neck muscles. This includes developing their flexibility and strength. Make 5 turns in each direction.
- Now tilt your head to one side so that your ear is close to your shoulder. The shoulder does not have to be raised! Maintain the tension in the same way as in the previous sentence. If you have a flexible neck, use your hands to bring your ear to your shoulder. If it hurts, do the movements with a painless amplitude! Make 5 bends to the right and left.
- Now make circular movements with your head clockwise and counter-clockwise. 8 movements in each direction. Slow! You can hold your head with your hands. This is an effective gymnastics for osteochondrosis of the neck.
- The warm-up is over and now strength exercises: Place your right hand on your right temple. Try to tilt your head to the right and prevent this movement with your hand. Make an effort to make it hard, but your head is moving in the right direction. 10 times in each direction (use the other hand to move left).
- Now grasp your head from behind (occipital area) and try, with the resistance of your hands, to tilt the back of the head backwards 5 times, then to move the head backwards in a horizontal plane 5 times. It is published a total of 10 times.
- Now place your palms on your forehead and tilt your head down through the resistance of your hands (pull your chin towards your chest). Do this 10 times, then through resistance, move your head forward horizontally (like pigeons when walking).
- Finally, you can stretch the harness by raising and lowering your shoulders. Raised - delayed for 2-3 seconds (pull-up), lowered - relaxed. Do 10 repetitions.
- Pull your neck in different directions, the gym 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, for the flexibility of the neck. These are also exercises for the neck muscles, but they also pull the tendons. This will make your neck more flexible.
Additional exercises for flexibility
This exercise should be performed not only in the case of osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, but also in principle at the beginning of 30-40 years. This is the age at which the muscle fibers begin to break down and the loss of flexibility picks up speed particularly quickly if you do not focus on your physical condition.
- Straighten your chin towards your chest, helping your head with your hands.
- Tilt your head to one side with your hands so your ear touches your shoulder. Extend the side of your neck with your hand.
That's enough. And remember, what you can not do with cervical osteochondrosis - overcome pain.
Massage elements
If your head hurts or your neck is stiff, then you can grind and knead your muscles.
Recall:
- The muscle that holds 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 downwards, applying moderate pressure (so that it doesn't hurt, but is comfortable). Stroke this muscle up to shoulder level.
- Now we feel the trapezoids with our hands and knead them. The trapezoid is located between the neck and shoulder from behind. After such simple manipulations, you seem to be reborn.
Among other things, make sure that your throat does not hurt. After the massage, she is warmed up and more prone to the cold than ever.
And finally, we remind you that, although cervical osteochondrosis is acutely manifest, it does not require therapeutic exercises.
In summary, if you do the exercises listed in the article, then the osteochondrosis of the cervical spine does not go away completely (after all, the cartilage is already damaged), but the condition improves noticeably, the clamps, pain symptoms disappear, the disease will stop progressing. In this way, you can forget about this unpleasant disease and live a full life.
But remember that neck exercises for osteochondrosis should be done regularly.