Exercise therapy is used to treat many diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Simple and safe exercises save us from various diseases. What exactly should you do if your neck hurts? In this case, the 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 sensitive and requires careful handling. Through it pass the vessels that nourish the brain, as well as the nerves, through which the signals that regulate our activity (motor activity, for example) enter the body.
Our neck is tense most of the day, as its muscles must constantly support the head, the mass of which reaches 2 kg or more. Normally, the musculature copes with its task. But add to that the uncomfortable and irregular postures we tend to take, prolonged immobility. We load the muscles unevenly, depriving them of rest and disrupting the blood supply.
The first problems with the cervical spine arise precisely because of excessive fatigue of the neck muscles. Typical symptoms are muscle spasms and 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 treating a problem that has turned into a disease - osteochondrosis of the cervix.
Hence the importance of neck charging with osteochondrosis.
How can physical therapy save you from pain?
With the development of the acute phase of cervical osteochondrosis, first of all, it is necessary to remove 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. Indeed, without a strong muscular corset, the spine will continue to suffer from vertical gravity pressure.
The natural root cause of all spinal diseases is gravity. Its vector is perpendicular to the earth's surface. Now let us imagine what happens to the spine if this load presses it not strictly vertically. For example, this happens when we are bent over, sitting at the table, immersed in various papers.
The neck is bent, inclined 45 degrees relative to the vertical, if average. Due to the stiffness of the head, there is a slight diagonal displacement of the beads relative to each other. The intervertebral cartilages experience an unusual load on them, over time they erase and deform.
Normally this position is also compensated by the strong neck muscles, but what strong muscles can we talk about when the person can barely move? This is the problem.
If we delve deeper into this issue, then nutrition, more precisely, the lack of nodular substances in food complicates the situation. Cartilage tissue is already slowly regenerating 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, exercises will help solve this problem.
Exercise therapy strengthens the neck muscles, eases the clamps and improves blood circulation. This is an effective method of treating osteochondrosis and preventing its progression in the future.
Thus, the problem can be solved by acting comprehensively for all the reasons for its occurrence:
- Strengthen neck muscles with neck exercises for osteochondrosis. Exercises for cervical osteochondrosis will be given below.
- Avoid wrong postures and prolonged standing motionless in one place.
- Eat special key supplements or develop a complete diet for yourself.
It is better to do it all at once.
In addition to osteochondrosis, another unpleasant thing can happen in the neck - hypothermia. In this case, no exercise will help you until the inflammation subsides. Do not delay treatment for a long time.
And another option, limited head mobility. In this case, you need to carefully cook the neck and do it for the neck with osteochondrosis up to amplitudes that allow you to perform the movement without pain.
About dizziness
Thinning of the intervertebral discs in the cervical spine leads to the fact that nerve endings can be caught. 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 - headaches.
There are also exercises for dizziness with osteochondrosis of the cervix. In fact, they are the same as for osteochondrosis. Their meaning is the stretching of tight muscles, their strengthening, the release of nerves and blood vessels from the clamps.
In general, any 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 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 degradation.
For various spinal diseases, weight exercises should generally be performed very carefully. Depending on the disease, movements that give vertical load to the spine, back flexion, etc. can be excluded.
How long should exercise therapy be done?
Human laziness knows no bounds. Often we stop studying once the problem goes away. A person is engaged in fitness while losing weight. Once he has achieved the desired result, everything stops. With disease, this approach is not only ineffective, but also fraught with disease recurrence.
To prevent osteochondrosis of the cervix, you need to deal with your neck periodically. This is easily done at home. Moreover, it does not require much time. The process is very enjoyable - 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 here are some details. Once you are used to artificial support, you can live your whole life because the corset holds the head instead of the muscles. And this is not at all beneficial for the cervical spine. As a result, the muscles finally lose their tone.
The therapeutic effect of exercises against cervical osteochondrosis lasts from 2 weeks to a month. If you stop exercising as soon as your muscles lose their tone again, you run the risk of experiencing headaches and difficulty turning your head again. Therefore, exercises to strengthen the neck muscles in this case play a major role in maintaining comfort.
So decide - to do exercises for osteochondrosis or not.
Neck gymnastics complex
It is best not to do any exercise with worsening cervical osteochondrosis. Your doctor should first treat the acute symptoms. After all, if it hurts to move your head, the whole 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 street.
Here is a rough set of exercises (let 's agree that the starting position is sitting straight, hands on knees):
- In the starting position, smoothly turn your head to the right until it stops, then to the left. Feel the stretch of the neck muscles. The nuance here is this: turn your head and try to turn it a little further without shaking, hold this tension for 5 seconds. Generally any spine exercises should start with exercises to strengthen the neck muscles. These include developing its flexibility and strength. Make 5 turns in each direction.
- Now tilt your head sideways so that your ear is close to your shoulder. No need to shrug! In the same way as in the previous movement, keep the tension. If you have a flexible neck, use your hands to bring the ear closer to the shoulder. If it hurts, do the movements with a painless amplitude! Perform 5 turns right and left.
- Now make circular motions 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 gymnastics for neck osteochondrosis.
- The warm-up is over and now do 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 be 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 the head from behind (occupant region) and, through the resistance of the hands, try to tilt the back of the head back 5 times, then 5 times move the head back in a horizontal plane. It will be published 10 times in total.
- Now rest your palms on your forehead and tilt your head down through the resistance of your hands (pull your chin to your chest). Do this 10 times, then move your head horizontally forward through the resistance (like pigeons while walking).
- And finally, you can stretch the trapeze by raising and lowering the 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 this once a day. This is an excellent neck exercise for osteochondrosis.
What other exercises can you do? For example, for neck flexibility. These are also exercises for the neck muscles, but also pull the tendons. This will make your neck more flexible.
Extra 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 degradation of muscle fibers begins, the loss of flexibility is gaining momentum especially fast, if you do not engage in your physical form.
- Stretch your chin to your chest, help your head with your hands.
- Use your hands to tilt your head sideways so that your ear touches your shoulder. Extend the side of the neck with your hand.
That's enough. And remember what you can not do with cervical osteochondrosis - work through the pain.
Elements of massage
When your head hurts or your neck is stiff, you can grind and cook the muscles.
You remember:
- The muscle that holds our head is attached to the back of the head. Cross your index and middle fingers over the muscle from the back of your head and down, applying moderate pressure (so as not to hurt you, but to be comfortable). Rub this muscle down to shoulder level.
- Now we feel the trapezoids with our hands and cook them. The trapezoid is located between the neck and shoulder from the back. After such simple manipulations, you seem to be reborn.
Among other things, make sure your neck does not swell. After the massage, she is warmer and more sensitive to the cold than ever.
And, finally, we remind you that while cervical osteochondrosis manifests itself acutely, therapeutic exercises do not need to be done.
To summarize: if you do the exercises listed in the article, osteochondrosis of the cervical spine will not disappear completely (after all, the cartilage is already damaged), but the condition will improve significantly, the clamps, the pain symptoms willleave, the disease will stop progressing. Thus, you can forget about this unpleasant disease and live a full life.
But remember, neck exercises for osteochondrosis should be done regularly.