Cervical osteochondrosis is a common disease that causes many unpleasant symptoms and significantly worsens the quality of life. It is almost impossible to cure it without surgery. However, you can stop the development of the process and eliminate a significant part of the symptoms. Only physiotherapy can help here.
Appointment of therapeutic exercises for osteochondrosis
Osteochondrosis is the degeneration of bone and cartilage tissue (intervertebral discs) of the spine. As a result, his intervertebral discs are deformed, bulge between the vertebrae, growths are formed on the body of the vertebrae.
As a result, nerve endings are pinched, blood vessels that run along the spine are pinched, and surrounding tissues are injured by bony outgrowths. Poor blood supply and immobility due to pain accelerate the development of pathology. As a result, the patient receives a whole "bouquet" of unpleasant symptoms:
- Stabbing pain ("lumbago")
- visual and hearing impairments.
- Dizziness.
- Changes in intracranial pressure.
- fainting.
- bouts of nausea.
- Limited mobility in the neck.
Medications can reduce inflammation and pain. But they are unable to release the pinched nerve roots and blood vessels, reposition the discs, and restore mobility. It can only be special exercises. Therefore, therapeutic exercises are the most important component of the treatment of osteochondrosis.
Indications for the use of gymnastics
Therapeutic exercises are useful at any stage of osteochondrosis (there are four of them in this disease). However, there are noticeable results only in the early stages. The presence of the disease and its stage is determined by the doctor. The reason for passing the examination and doing therapeutic exercises should be one of the symptoms listed above, as well as a crunch in the neck when moving.
Previously, cervical osteochondrosis was considered a disease of people of mature age (from 40 to 45 years old), but in recent years it has become dramatically "younger" and occurs even in adolescents. The reason is long motionless sitting at a computer or at a tableTherefore, there is no harm in studying and doing the exercises shown for cervical osteochondrosis even in healthy young people for the purpose of prevention. For this you do not need any equipment and sportswear, you can do it during a lunch break or instead of a "smoking break".
Contraindications for therapeutic exercises
This does not mean that physical therapy exercises can be performed at any time and by anyone. Osteochondrosis can be in the acute stage, subacute and in remission. The acute stage is characterized by a clear manifestation of several symptoms of the disease (they appear in different people in a different set) and, of course, severe pain when moving.
In the acute stage of osteochondrosis, it is necessary to eliminate pain and inflammation in the clinic with the help of drugs (they are prescribed by a doctor) and physiotherapeutic procedures. Physical education is strictly contraindicated.
Only in the subacute stage can you start gymnastics. When moving the neck, there should be no severe pain, dizziness, "flies" in front of the eyes, noise in the ears. Slight discomfort is acceptable. Also contraindicated:
- Severe blood pressure disorders.
- Malignant tumors.
- febrile states.
Classes at the stage of remission are required (at least 3 times a week). If treatment is started early, there is a chance that the acute stage of the disease will not return for many years if you consciously adjust to physiotherapeutic exercises.
Rules for conducting therapeutic exercises
Exercises for patients with cervical osteochondrosis are simple. They are movements of the head, shoulders and arms. However, they should be carried out in compliance with a number of rules. Only in this case do they give a result.
- Before starting training, the muscles must be warmed up. The easiest way to do this is through self-massage.
- Movements must be performed with the maximum possible amplitude. It may be small at first, but should increase over time.
- Movements should be smooth, without jerks.
- The number of repetitions of each exercise is 5-10 times. If it's symmetrical, repeats in each direction are counted separately.
- You can do gymnastics sitting (with mandatory back support on the back of a chair or armchair) or standing. The first is even better, so it's convenient to do gymnastics in the office at work.
- There must be no breaks in class. An exception is the transition of osteochondrosis to an acute stage or the occurrence of a disease accompanied by a high temperature.
- Slight discomfort should be tolerated (fuzzy light pain, pulling, crunching), especially at the beginning of classes. However, if severe pain or other pronounced symptoms of osteochondrosis appear, you should immediately stop exercising and consult a doctor as soon as possible.
Doctors often recommend doing therapeutic exercises at the same time. Compliance with this rule is desirable but not required. If for some reason you can't do it at the same time, you can do it at separate times. It is important not to skip classes at all.
If you do not follow the class rules listed above, gymnastics not only will not help, but can also do the opposite. A wrongly performed movement can lead to a pinched nerve or a displacement of the intervertebral disc.
The main exercises for cervical osteochondrosis
Today there are many systems for treating osteochondrosis with the help of physiotherapeutic exercises. The choice can be made by yourself or on the advice of a doctor - all systems give results. There are also some basic exercises that are included in almost all complexes.
- Tilting the head towards the shoulders.
- Turns to one side (in this case you need to pull your chin to your shoulder).
- Turns to the sides with the simultaneous placing of the palm on the opposite shoulder.
- Tilts back and forth. It is good if, when leaning back, the head presses on the headrest of a chair or chair, overcoming a slight resistance.
- Raise and lower your shoulders.
- Tilt your head towards your shoulder while lifting the other shoulder.
- Stretching the neck forward and retracting it (dubbed "chick peeking from nest").
- Extend the neck forward, followed by a side-to-side rotation of the head (called "goose").
- Tilting and turning the head to the side with the arms raised and joined above the head (called "Fakir").
- Stretch the neck forward and up while abducting the stretched arms behind the back (called "seagull").
Also, patients with osteochondrosis are recommended to tilt their head sideways and forward, as well as turn sideways with a very small amplitude. The number of repetitions in such cases should be greater (at least 10 times). These exercises are sometimes called "ay-ay-ay, " "yes-yes, " and "no-no. ". cervical vertebra.
It is better if the first hours are held under the guidance of a physiotherapy specialist. He will teach you how to do the exercises correctly, and then the patient can do it himself. If it is difficult to get to such a specialist, you can use the video tutorial.
The implementation of such a complex (observing all the rules) will take no more than 20 minutes. So, it is obvious that it is better to start training quickly than to endure all the troubles prepared for patients with cervical osteochondrosis.
Osteochondrosis of the neck is a disease that a doctor cannot cure. It is not possible without the active participation of the patient in the treatment process. However, if you start therapeutic exercises in a timely manner, you can avoid unpleasant manifestations of osteochondrosis for a long time.