Healing 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, exercise comes to the aid of 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 signals enter the body that regulate our activity (motor activity, for example).
Our neck is tense for most of the day, as its muscles must constantly hold the head, which weighs 2 kg or more. Usually the muscles do their job. But add to that the awkward and incorrect postures we tend to assume, prolonged immobility. We load the muscles unevenly, depriving them of rest and impeding the blood supply.
The first problems with the cervical spine occur precisely due to excessive fatigue of the neck muscles. Typical symptoms are leakage and muscle fatigue. This primary 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 become 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, in the first place, it is necessary to eliminate the pain syndrome. When the symptoms of pain disappear, you can start treatment with exercise. This is a set of exercises for cervical osteochondrosis that includes a number of head movements, including isometric neck exercises.
Gymnastics for the neck with osteochondrosis is mandatory. Without it, the treatment will not give the desired effect. Indeed, without a strong muscular corset, the spine will continue to suffer from the vertical pressure of gravity.
The natural root cause of all diseases of the spine is gravity. Its vector is perpendicular to the earth's surface. Now let's imagine what happens to the spine if this load presses it not strictly vertically. For example, this happens when we are hunched over, sitting at a table, immersed in various papers.
The neck is bent, inclined at 45 degrees to the vertical, if averaged. Due to the weight of the head there is a slight diagonal displacement of the vertebrae relative to each other. The intervertebral cartilages experience an unusual load on them, over time they wear out and deform.
Usually even this position is compensated by strong neck muscles, but what strong muscles can we talk about when a person hardly moves? This is the problem.
If we delve deeper into this issue, then nutrition, more precisely the lack of joint-forming substances in food, complicates the situation. Cartilage tissue is already slowly renewing and if the body lacks the necessary substances, it has nothing to renew.
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, exercise will help solve this problem.
Healing therapy strengthens the muscles of the neck, relieves cramps and improves blood circulation. This is an effective method of treating osteochondrosis and preventing its progression in the future.
In this way, the problem can be solved by fully acting on all the causes of its occurrence:
- Strengthen the neck muscles with neck exercises for osteochondrosis. Exercises for cervical osteochondrosis will be given below.
- Avoid incorrect postures and prolonged sitting still.
- 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 exercise will help you until the inflammation subsides. Do not delay treatment for long.
And another option, limited mobility of the head. In this case, you should carefully knead the neck and do it for the neck with osteochondrosis to the amplitude that allows you to perform the movement painlessly.
About dizziness
The thinning of the intervertebral discs in the cervical spine leads to the fact that the nerve endings can be compressed. In addition to nerves, 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 in osteochondrosis. Their importance is to stretch the tight muscles, to strengthen them, to release the nerves and blood vessels from the braces.
In general, any exercise for osteochondrosis (without weights) improves blood circulation throughout the body, including more intense blood exchange between the body and the head. Our brain receives more food 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 speed up the process of cartilage breakdown.
In various diseases of the spine, weight training should generally be performed with great care. Depending on the disease, movements that give a vertical load on the spine, spinal flexion, etc. can be excluded.
How long to do exercise therapy?
Human laziness knows no bounds. We often stop learning as soon as the problem disappears. A person engages in fitness while losing weight. Once it achieves the desired result, everything stops. In diseases, this approach is not only ineffective, but also fraught with relapse.
To prevent cervical osteochondrosis, you should periodically deal with the neck. This is easily done 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 neck brace and wear it during acute periods. But there are some subtleties here. Once you get used to artificial support, you can live a lifetime because the corset holds the head instead of the muscles. And this is not good 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 training as soon as your muscles lose tone again, you risk experiencing headaches and difficulty turning your head again. Therefore, exercises to strengthen the muscles of the neck in this case play a huge role in maintaining comfort.
So decide - to do exercises for osteochondrosis or not.
Gymnastic complex for the neck
It is better not to do any exercises with exacerbation of cervical osteochondrosis. Your doctor must first treat the acute symptoms. After all, if it hurts to move your head, the whole exercise 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 straight, 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 this: turn your head and try to turn it a little forward without pulling, hold this tension for 5 seconds. In principle, all exercises for the spine should begin with exercises to strengthen the muscles of the neck. These include developing its flexibility and strength. Make 5 turns 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, hold 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 left.
- Now make circular movements with your head clockwise and counterclockwise. 8 movements in each direction. Slow down! You can hold your head with your hands. This is an effective exercise 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 so that it is heavy, but your head is moving in the right direction. 10 times in each direction (to move to the left, use the other hand accordingly).
- Now hold your head from behind (occipital area) and try to tilt the back of your head back 5 times with the resistance of your hands, then move your head back 5 times in a horizontal plane. It will be released a total of 10 times.
- Now place your palms on your forehead and tilt your head down with the resistance of your hands (pull your chin to your chest). Do this 10 times, then move your head horizontally forward by resistance (like pigeons when walking).
- Finally, you can stretch the trapeze by raising and lowering the shoulders. Raised - slow for 2-3 seconds (pulling up), lowered - relaxed. Do 10 reps.
- Pull your neck in different directions, the gymnastics is over. Do all this once a day. This is an excellent neck exercise for osteochondrosis.
What other exercises can you do? For example, 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 flexibility exercises
This exercise should be performed not only with osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, but also generally in the early 30-40 years. At this age, the breakdown of muscle fibers begins, the loss of flexibility is gaining momentum if you do not deal with your physical shape.
- Stretch your chin to 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.
This is enough. And remember what you can't do with cervical osteochondrosis - work through pain.
Massage elements
When your head hurts or your neck is stiff, you can grind and knead your muscles.
I remember:
- The muscle that holds our head is attached to the back of the head. Run the index and middle finger along the muscle from the back of the head and down, applying moderate pressure (so it doesn't hurt, but it's nice). Sweep this muscle to shoulder level.
- Now we feel the trapezoids with our hands and knead them. The trapezoid 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 blowing. After the massage, she is warmer and more vulnerable to the cold than ever.
Finally, we remind you that while cervical osteochondrosis is acute, it is not necessary to do therapeutic exercises.
To summarize: if you do the exercises listed in the article, osteochondrosis of the cervical spine will not disappear completely (eventually the cartilage is already damaged), but the condition will improve significantly, braces, pain symptoms will disappear, the disease will stopprogresses. 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.