Diagnosis | Cervical spinal blockage – Cause of symptoms

Diagnosis

The diagnosis is made on the basis of a description of the symptoms and a functional test of the cervical spine of the affected person. The functional test includes a movement test of the cervical spine. The mobility in all directions is tested.

The direction of the movement restriction already gives an indication of which movement segment (section of the cervical spine) is blocked. Radiation of pain into the head also indicates that the blockage is located in the upper cervical spine, radiation in the direction of the shoulder indicates a blockage in the middle cervical spine, and radiation into the arm indicates a blockage in the lower cervical spine. For the examiner, the palpable hard tension of the musculature provides additional evidence of unnatural muscle tension.

How can I release the blockage myself?

In order to gently release blockages yourself, the muscles of the entire shoulder and neck area should first be warmed up well. To do this, rotate the shoulders back and forth in the pain-free area for one to two minutes. Then move your head in the pain-free area – looking alternately in the direction of the right and left shoulder. When you have warmed up sufficiently, stretching exercises follow, which can help you to normalize the muscle tension. For all exercises applies:

  • Hold the voltage for 30 seconds at a time.
  • Then build up pressure against the stretch stress for about ten seconds without changing position and increase the stretch for another 30 seconds.
  • If there is a slight clacking during or after stretching, this is a normal and harmless reaction.

Exercises

Exercise 1 Starting position: stand or sit straight, let shoulders hang deliberately. Now tilt your head forward and pull your chin towards your chest. To create a pressure against the stretching tension, place your hands on the back of your head and try to press the head against your hands.

Attention, a frequent mistake in the execution is the hunchback. Exercise 2 Starting position: straight stand or seat.Now slowly tilt your head to the side and let the opposite shoulder hang down deliberately, to increase the stretch, grasp the temple with one hand over your head to increase the inclination, the shoulder on the other side is actively pulling towards the ground. Against the hand at the respective temple, you can then create a pressure against the stretch tension. Attention, a common mistake is to pull the opposite shoulder upwards. Further exercises can be found in the article Cervical Spine Blockage

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All articles in this series:

  1. Cervical spinal blockage – Cause of symptoms
  2. Diagnosis
  3. Settling