Mrs. Sheetal Aggarwal
(Disclaimer: The contributor is a long standing patient of Neck Pain and has written this article out of her interest, experience and research. She is one of our relieved patients and wanted it to be shared on our website as a gesture of thanks. The content here is based on her own experience and which should be judiciously followed)
All the knowledge I am sharing is what I have learnt being a patient of neck pain all these years and my motive here is to help other people like me.
Our back bone is called spinal column. It gives support to the skeleton. There are 33 vertebras in the spinal column out of which 7 are in the neck and are called cervical vertebras. Fibro cartilage disks are present between these vertebras and help in turning the head and our nerves going to the arms and hands come out of small opening in above structures, called foramen
Any alteration in structure and function of the mentioned structure might lead to problems with the neck or sometimes arms and hands. If neck pain spreads up to the hands and there is tingling in the fingers it can be the symptom of cervical Spondylosis or may lead to it in future. It compresses the nerves and aggravates the pain.
I searched the internet and visited many practitioners to get answers and remedy for my problem, only to avail a list of matchless answers like it’s due to age, bone growth, grease reduction, muscle spasm and so on!! And I used to wonder that when everyone ages, then why only me?? But, at Healing Hands my entire matchless list was simplified and made to match and then I got to know that working in poor posture renders our neck prone for muscle imbalances. which puts undue stress on the joints of the neck which now being vulnerable age early or produce problem with normal age related degeneration.
What can neck problems lead to??
- Pain in neck and upper back
- Pain in the arm & hands
- Pain in the shoulder
- Headaches
- Giddiness
- pain in and around the eyes
- Lack of sleep
- irritability & Short temperedness
What causes neck problems (other than trauma)??
- Working in poor posture (sitting on desk, in front of computer etc.)
- Using thick pillow
- Working for hours with bent neck
- Wrong sleeping posture
- Mental tension
How can we prevent such problems from occurring??
- Use optimally hard bed
- Use a thin pillow or better use a cervical pillow
- work in best ergonomic postures
- Exercise according to your physical capacity
- Keep your weight under control
- Always use a smooth bed
- Avoid butter, ghee, alcohol, white bread, egg, meat and…. Take Plenty of water
- Avoid the yogic exercises performed with bent head like sheershsan, sarvangasan, halasan
If your work involves neck bending for longer hours do make it a habit to visit a Physiotherapy Clinic for your Postural Evaluation!! This way you can be able to know about and control your neck problems in time!! (Make sure the clinic you visit is not one of the conventional/traditional/ Electro-therapy based clinics working in India. Because I wasted a lot of time and money at such clinics before I visited Healing Hands!!)
MRI or no MRI??
Many practitioners tend to refer you for MRI for neck pains and we Indians are also very fond of getting costly tests done!! But, believe me it will not be very helpful until you have any numbness or weakness in limbs. All you need is Physical Diagnosis so that you can know precisely what all structures including spine are at fault so that they can be treated accordingly.
You can also be referred for X-ray which can be a useful tool to know about the following:
- Degeneration of the back bone
- Position of the cervical vertebra
- Actual cause behind pain in the vertebras
- Possibility of gap between the vertebras
Once you are diagnosed or proper cause is formulated for your neck problems you must undergo required manual therapy treatment and specific exercises. Once you are over with the treatment in order to prevent re-occurrence you can continue with following exercises:
Take a comfortable position for following exercises either in sitting or standing breathe normally.
Exercise 1
While exhaling turn your head towards right as far as possible and then turn left. Repeat it ten times.
Exercise 2
While inhaling bend your head backwards and then straighten. Repeat it ten times.
Exercise 3
Bend your head towards left and then right side. Repeat it ten times.
Exercise 4
Rotate your head in circular motion from right to left and then left to right. Repeat it ten times. Avoid this exercise if you feel giddy.
Exercise 5
Static exercise- put pressure with your hand in the opposite direction while bending your head from left to right and right to left. Both the forces being equal the head will not move.
Exercise 6
Shoulder rolling- Stand straight. Breathing normally rotate your shoulders from front to back ten times and then back to front ten times.
Exercise 7
Neck pulling- Sit straight with your one hand behind your back and pull your head to the opposite side, hold for ten seconds and then release. Repeat 5-10 times.
Yogasanas
Sahaj Ardhmatsendra Asan – Sit in sukhasan or padmasan. Keeping the spine straight keep your right hand on the left knee. Take your left hand towards the back. Now turn your head towards left, count up to 20 and relax. Repeat the same in opposite direction. Breathe normally during the exercise.
Gomukhasan- Keep the right knee on the left. Position the left heel touching the right hip and vice versa. Raise the right hand above your head, turn the elbow and bring it down parallel to the back. Now take the left arm backwards bending the elbow and hook the fingers of both the hands together. Keep the spine straight. Breathe normally. Count up to 20. Repeat the exercise the other way round. Perform two sets.
Yashti asan- Lie down in shavasan and keep your hands under the head. Your feet should be touching the ground. Breathe normally and count up to 30. Do this exercise twice.
Hope the above content proves to be helpful in many patients like me.
I again would like to thank healing hands for getting me relieved from all my problems.
Thanks!!
P.S.
We thank Mrs. Sheetal Aggarwal for taking time to write this article for us. We are grateful for this gesture. We are also glad that we were able to create an insight of how physiotherapy actually works in treating cases with musculoskeletal ailments it’s definitely a great boost up for us that we are able to deliver our ideology well and will thrive to spread it further.
HEALING HANDS TEAM
Note: The images added, are taken from the internet by the patient herself. Healing Hands holds no responsibility for whatsoever the case may be