Exercise therapy is used to treat many diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Simple and safe exercises save us from various ailments. What exactly should you do if your neck hurts? In this case, exercises come to the rescue for osteochondrosis of the cervical spine.
The neck is one of the most vulnerable places
The neck is really very vulnerable and requires careful handling. The vessels that supply 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, because its muscles constantly need to support the head, whose mass reaches 2 kg or more. Normally, the musculature copes with its task. But add to that the awkward and irregular postures that 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 muscles of the neck. Typical symptoms are leaks and muscle fatigue. This primary problem is solved with a simple massage, which I will talk about a little later.
Often people don't pay attention to these symptoms. Therefore, we are talking about the treatment of a problem that has turned into a disease - cervical osteochondrosis.
Hence the importance of loading the neck with osteochondrosis.
How Physiotherapy 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 go away, you can start treatment with exercise therapy. This is a set of exercises for cervical osteochondrosis, which includes a number of head movements, including isometric exercises for the neck.
Neck gymnastics with osteochondrosis is a must. Without it, the treatment will not give the desired effect. This is because without a strong muscular corset, the spine will continue to suffer from the vertical pressure of gravity.
The natural cause of all diseases of the spine is gravity. Its vector is perpendicular to the surface of the Earth. Now imagine what happens to the spine if this load does not support strictly vertically. For example, this happens when we are bending over, sitting at the table, immersed in different papers.
The neck is curved, tilted 45 degrees from the vertical, so medium. Due to the gravity of the head, there is a slight diagonal displacement of the vertebrae relative to each other. The intervertebral cartilages undergo an unusual load for them, over time they fade and become deformed.
Normally even this position is compensated by strong muscles in the neck, but what strong muscles can we talk about when a person is barely moving? This is the problem.
If we delve into this question, 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.
So, the root 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, exercises will help to solve this problem.
Exercise therapy strengthens neck muscles, relieves clamps and improves blood circulation. It 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 acting comprehensively on all the reasons for its occurrence:
- Strengthen the neck muscles with neck exercises for osteochondrosis. Exercises for cervical osteochondrosis will be given below.
- Avoid incorrect postures and prolonged immobile sitting in one place.
- Eat 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 too long.
And another option, limited head mobility. In this case, you need to carefully knead the neck and do it for the neck with osteochondrosis in the amplitude that allows you to perform the movement without pain.
About dizziness
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. Their meaning is to stretch tight muscles, strengthen them, free nerves and blood vessels from the clamps.
Generally speaking, any physical exercise for osteochondrosis (without fillers) improves blood circulation throughout the body, including more intense blood exchange between the body and the head. Our brain receives more nutrition and oxygen, which affects productivity.
Resistance exercise is not recommended for cervical osteochondrosis. They certainly won't save you from osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, but they can speed up the process of cartilage breakdown.
For various diseases of the spine, weight-bearing exercises should generally be performed with great care. Depending on the disease, the movements that give a vertical load to the spine, back flexion, etc. can be excluded.
How long to do exercise therapy?
Human laziness has no boundaries. Often, we stop studying as soon as the problem goes away. A person is engaged in physical fitness while losing weight. As soon as he has achieved the desired result, everything stops. With diseases, this approach is not only ineffective, but also fraught with disease return.
For the prevention of cervical osteochondrosis, you need to periodically treat your neck. This is easily done at home. Plus, it doesn't take a lot of time. The process is very pleasant - the feeling 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 there are a few niceties here. Once you get used to the artificial support, you can live your whole life because the corset holds the head instead of the muscles. And it is not at all useful for the cervical spine. As a result, the muscles finally 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 their tone, you may experience headaches and difficulty turning your head again. Therefore, exercises for strengthening the neck muscles play a huge role in maintaining comfort in this case.
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 the 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 initial position is sitting upright, hands on knees):
- In the initial position, gently turn your head to the right until it stops, then to the left. Feel the muscles in your neck stretch. The nuance here is: turn your head and try to turn it a little further without jerks, hold that tension for 5 seconds. In general, any exercise for the spine should be started with exercises to strengthen the muscles of the neck. These include developing his flexibility and strength. Take 5 turns in each direction.
- Now tilt your head to the side so that your ear is close to your shoulder. You don't have 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 amplitude! Make 5 turns to the right and to the left.
- Now make circular movements with your head clockwise and counterclockwise. 8 movements in each direction. Slowly! You can hold your head with your hands. It is an effective gymnastics for osteochondrosis of the neck.
- The warm-up is over, and now the strength exercises: place your right hand on the right temple. Try to tilt your head to the right and with your hand, prevent this movement. Make an effort to make it heavy, but your head is going the right way. 10 times in each direction (to move to the left, use the other hand, respectively).
- Now grab your head from behind (occipital region) and, thanks to the resistance of your hands, try to tilt the back of your head 5 times back, then 5 times back your head in a horizontal plane. It will be released 10 times in total.
- Now put your palms on your forehead and tilt your head down with the resistance of your hands (pull your chin towards your chest). Do this 10 times, then move your head horizontally forward with resistance (like doves when walking).
- And finally, you can stretch the trapeze by raising and lowering the shoulders. High - delayed 2-3 seconds (pull), lowered - relaxed. Do 10 repetitions.
- Pull your neck in different directions, the gymnastics are over. Do all of this once a day. It is a great 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. It will make your neck more flexible.
Additional exercises for flexibility
This exercise should be carried out not only with osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, but also, in principle, at the onset of 30-40 years. At this age, the degradation of muscle fibers begins, the loss of flexibility especially increases, if you do not engage in your physical form.
- Stretch your chin towards your chest, help your 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.
That's enough. And remember what you can't do with cervical osteochondrosis - work through the pain.
Massage elements
When your head hurts or your neck is stiff, you can grind and knead your muscles.
Remember:
- The muscle that holds our head is attached to the back of the head. Run your index and middle fingers over the muscle in the back of the head and down, applying moderate pressure (so it doesn't hurt, but it's nice). Sweep this muscle down to shoulder level.
- Now we feel the trapezoids with our hands and knead them. The trapeze is located between the neck and the shoulder from the back. After such simple manipulations, you seem to be reborn.
Among other things, make sure your neck is not breathing. After the massage, she is warmed up and more vulnerable to the cold than ever.
And, finally, we remind you that if cervical osteochondrosis manifests itself acutely, it is not necessary to do therapeutic exercises.
To sum up: if you do the exercises listed in the article, the osteochondrosis of the cervical spine will not go away completely (after all, the cartilage is already damaged), but the condition will improve noticeably, clamps, symptomspain will go away, the disease will stop progressing. So you can forget about this unpleasant disease and live a full life.
But remember that neck exercises for osteochondrosis should be done regularly.