[Cervical Spine Care]Why do you have cervical spine and neck pain and how to protect your cervical spine
Why do you have cervical spine and neck pain
The greater the bowing angle, the more injured the cervical spine
According to the research of Gao Yunfeng, an expert in mechanics from Tsinghua University and the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, when the human body is upright, the cervical spine is damaged. The weight it bears is the weight of the head; when the head is lowered to 15°, the pressure on the cervical spine is 2 times that when it is vertical; when the angle reaches 45°, the pressure on the cervical spine is 3.7 times that when it is vertical; When the head angle of the human body reaches 60°, the pressure on the cervical vertebra reaches 4.5 times of the vertical load-bearing; if the head weight is 8 kg, when the head is lowered by 60°, the cervical vertebra bears a weight of 34.4 kg, which is equivalent to 34.4 kg. Yu put two super large watermelons on the cervical spine.
What damage will it cause to the cervical spine?
The longer the head is lowered and the greater the angle, the greater the force on the intervertebral disc and cervical vertebrae, and to a certain extent, nerve, blood vessel, and spinal cord irritation symptoms will occur. Cervical spondylosis of cervical type, vertebral artery type, sympathetic nerve type, mixed type, etc and difficulty swallowing.
So, is it cervical spondylosis when the neck makes a noise?
Many people find that they often have a ringing sound when they turn their necks. Does this mean they have cervical spondylosis? In fact, this usually occurs after watching a computer or watching TV or reading a book for a long time. When the cervical facet joints maintain a posture for a long time, the lubricating fluid produced between the joints will decrease, and the friction of the joints will increase, resulting in noise.
Not only the cervical vertebrae, but there is usually some “movement” when the joints move. For example, the knee joint makes a noise when squatting up, the hip joint makes a light “quack” sound when turning around, and the cervical vertebra when the neck is turned has some noise. Sound, you can hear the sound of your finger when you squeeze your finger, etc. This is because there is always friction between the joint surfaces, between the cartilage pad and the joint surface, between the tendon and the joint capsule, etc., and the sound is caused by friction. It varies from person to person, depending on the situation.
Does it have to be “treated” when it “sounds”?
Generally speaking, there is only a popping sound, no redness or swelling on the outside, and no pain. People without movement disorders are physiological popping sounds, and do not need special treatment, nor do they need to feel pain. This is too apprehensive. Those who are sedentary for a long time, such as teachers, editors, secretaries, computer operators and other people who work at desks all year round, often complain of “snapping” of the cervical spine. Whether it is a joint dislocation or joint damage.
In younger adults, the current diagnosis is more likely to be chronic neck muscle strain or fibrosing of the neck than cervical spondylosis. You can go to the orthopaedic doctor to take an X-ray of the cervical spine to determine whether there are early imaging manifestations of cervical spondylosis.
Seeing this, many of the judges are going to mutter again: It’s fine if I don’t lower my head, I lie in bed all day, and the cervical spondylosis has nothing to do with me!
“Keeping a half-sitting and half-recumbent posture for a long time will hurt the cervical spine more than bowing your head at your desk.” Experts said that when a person sits on the sofa, his buttocks are sunk, and the back muscles are elongated at the back of the pelvis. In this posture, reading a book, looking at a mobile phone, etc., the eyes are naturally looking down, and the neck is bent at the same time, which is very likely to suffer from cervical spondylosis.
Many friends do not have obvious symptoms of cervical spondylosis, but this does not mean that they will not be found by cervical spondylosis. Come and take some small self-tests!
Symptoms of cervical spondylosis
First: radiating pain like electric shock occurs in a certain part of the limb, which is a typical manifestation of cervical radiculopathy. If it is accompanied by symptoms of dizziness, nausea, and rotation of vision, it is often accompanied by cervical spondylosis of vertebral artery type.
Second: Numbness of fingers, especially numbness of both sides of the fingers, must think about whether there is cervical spondylosis, and numbness of both sides of the fingers, it may be the important structure of the spinal cord is compressed;
Third: Do a ten-second finger flexion and extension experiment, make a fist, and then fully extend it. It is normal to do more than twenty times in ten seconds.
Fourth: Walk in a straight line with both feet on the same line. People with cervical spondylosis cannot walk in a straight line.
How to protect your cervical spine
Experts suggest that mobile phone parties and bow-headed people should keep their head up when playing with mobile phones. At the same time, raise the mobile phone at eye level to relax the neck and shoulders; after working for an hour or two, turn the head and neck forward, back, left and right several times to relieve cervical vertebra joint fatigue.
If you have to lower your head for long-term work, raise the screen or things you are looking at a little higher, and try to keep your head as low as possible. In addition, maintain a good sitting posture, control the time well, get up and do activities after more than 45 minutes, expand your chest and shrug your shoulders, and if you persist, the lesions of the cervical spine will be delayed, and long-term repetitive neck movements will be avoided.
Cervical protection action
1, head-hand confrontation training
The main method is: cross the hands and fingers on the neck, stretch the head back with force, block the hands with force, and resist the force. Although the head does not move, the corresponding neck muscles are contracted through the contest of force in two directions; similarly, We can put our hand against the left side of the head, turn the head to the left, and resist the hand against the head, and the same is true for the right side. You can also rotate the neck left and right, and press the neck muscles with your hands. This exercise can relax the tense muscles of the neck and has a good protective effect on the neck.
2, “米” word operation
The method is to use the head as the “pen”, and write repeatedly in the following order” “Mi” character: first write a horizontal line, try to draw a horizontal line from left to right, head back to the right position; write a vertical line, stretch the head and neck forward and upward as much as possible, draw a vertical line from top to bottom, head back Upright position; stretch the head and neck as far as possible to the upper left to a 45-degree angle, return the head to the upright position, point the upper right of the rice character in the same way, turn the head back to the upright position, stretch the head and neck to the upper right as far as possible, draw a swipe to the lower left, the head and neck Return to the right position; stretch the head as far as possible to the front and upper left, and draw a stroke to the lower right to restore the head and neck to the right position. The movements should be gentle and avoid excessive force. Do 1-2 times a day to feel the lightness and comfort of the head, neck and shoulders.
3, keep your chest up, look left and right
After leaving the office, exercise is the best way to strengthen your cervical spine. When flying a kite in the suburbs in spring, hold your chest up and look left and right, which can maintain the muscle tension of the cervical spine and spine. It is really a good method left by our ancestors to prevent cervical spondylosis. When swimming, the head is always lifted up, the neck muscles and psoas muscles are exercised, and people have no burden in the water, and they will not cause any damage to the intervertebral disc. It can be regarded as a relatively comfortable way to exercise the cervical spine.
You must remember these six tips to prevent cervical spondylosis
1, sunbathe the neck
Sunlight irradiation can cause local heating, accelerate local blood circulation, make blood gas and meridians unblocked, and also facilitate the delivery of nutrients, relieve cervical pain, and help cervical spondylosis recovery. In addition, regular sun exposure helps the absorption of vitamin D, which in turn promotes the intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphorus, and has the effect of preventing and treating osteoporosis.
2, massage Fengchi point
Fengchi point location: at the neck, under the occiput, sternocleidoma The depression between the protruding muscle and the upper end of the trapezius muscle.
Method: Knead with both hands, pay attention to closing your eyes when rubbing, preferably with soreness. 1 minute in total.
3, Computer family: Raise the monitor
Raise the position of the computer monitor by a few centimeters, or give the computer The display screen is padded with a few thick books, so that the previous bowing action is changed to looking up, preventing the occurrence of cervical spondylosis from the source. At the same time, don’t stay in a sitting position for a long time, stand up and move your head more.
4, put a small scarf in the office
People with cervical vertebra disease must keep warm. You can wrap your neck with a thick long scarf, which can prevent the neck from getting cold and eliminate the inducing factors of cervical spondylosis. Keeping the neck warm can not only avoid neck fatigue, but also prevent the blood vessels of the head and neck from constricting due to cold, which will slow down the blood circulation of the brain. It is recommended that women put a small scarf in the office, especially in summer, when the air conditioner is blowing cold, you can tie it to block the cold air.
5, stir-fried salt and hot compress
Put some hot salt in a small pocket, let it cool a little, and put it on On the cervical spine, wait until the salt is completely cool before taking it off, which can heat up the blood and activate the blood. You can also shred the ginger and put it in a bag before going to bed to tie it around your neck. The principle is estimated to be hot compresses.
6, breaststroke once or twice a week
Breaststroke lifts the neck back up from parallel to the water while breathing The head and neck are always in a low and a tilted state, which is in line with the exercise principles of cervical spondylosis, so it can play a positive role in the prevention and treatment of cervical spondylosis. The principle of action when playing badminton and catching a high ball is roughly the same as that of breaststroke. Swimming frogs and playing badminton to prevent and treat cervical spondylosis vary from time to time and from person to person. Patients with severe cervical spondylosis cannot perform swimming exercises.
All in all, this posture is wrong, and the cervical spine is the most injured. The cervical vertebra, like other bones and joints in the human body, is “use it and lose it”. Usually, if you have nothing to do, exercise more, move your muscles and bones more, and let the cervical vertebra “move”!
