The shifting of the spine into a hunchback causes a change in the position of the shoulder blade, the shoulder girdle slips forward. The body tries to put the head, pelvis and feet on top of each other to get a good load support. If a shift occurs, the body compensates with a counter thrust.
In the case of a hunchback, the head stands forward. In the middle and lower cervical spine, the lordosis position is strengthened, which leads to circulatory disorders of the neck muscles. This leads to cramps and eventually hurts. The exercises aim to straighten the spine in the thoracic and cervical spine area.
Exercises against neck tensions
1. exercise – “shoulder circling” 2. exercise – “shoulder lifting” 3. exercise – “stretching chest muscles” 4. exercise – “stretching neck muscles” 5. exercise – “rhomboids” 6. exercise – “lat pull” Physiologically, the spine is in a lordotic cervical and lumbar spine and a kyphotic position of the BWS and sacrum. This position serves to be able to absorb forces. If the lordotic or kyphotic position is strengthened, the forces can no longer be absorbed in a healthy way and structural damage can occur due to postural deviations.
Especially in the case of a hunched back, this can be due to a flat back that has structurally collapsed or due to back diseases such as Bechterew, Scheuermann or osteoporosis. A hunchback can hardly be corrected. With a hunchback, the hip joints are relatively in an extension of the hip joint, causing the femoral heads to be tilted forward.
As a result, the hip is more likely to rotate outwards, resulting in increased lordosis of the lower spine. In a hunched back, kyphosis is mainly seen in the middle and upper thoracic spine. It also leads to changes in the musculature.
There is increased tonus in the hip flexors, especially the iliopsoas, the rectus femoris and the tensor fascia latae, these muscles prevent the pelvis from slipping. The abdominal muscles are also hypertonic, as the thoracic axis is tilted backwards. In the front and rear neck muscles, reactive hypertonus also occurs because the sagging of the thoracic axis causes an imbalance of the muscles.
Due to the altered musculature, it can be assumed that the muscle strength is also limited accordingly. In the mobility of the spine, a hunchback shows a partial stiffness of the thoracic spine and upper lumbar spine in the direction of extension. The mobility of the costal joints decreases due to the increased kyphotic position of the thoracic spine.
The shortened hip sensors continue to cause reduced hip flexion and limited internal rotation due to shortened external rotators. The treatment of a hunchback is symptom-related and cannot be reversed due to a change in the constitution. The shortened muscles are stretched to length with appropriate stretching exercises and are given to the patient as homework.
A back school or a complete exercise program in the upright position is absolutely necessary. The exercises can be done with a rod in the seat or in prone position with arms stretched forward. The 4-legged stand also offers a starting position for special exercises.
“Shoulder circling” When standing, circle your shoulders from front/up to back/down. Do this 15-20 times for the next exercise 2: “Shoulder lifting” Neck tensions are usually caused by too little movement in the neck area, raised shoulders during work or after a long stay in a draft or cold. Especially the little movement is common, which mostly affects people who sit a lot at their desk and work a lot on their PC.
The arms are usually kept slightly raised and the shoulders are raised to avoid overloading. This restricts the blood circulation, which increases the tone of the muscles, creates deposits that can no longer be removed and ultimately causes pain and restricted movement. The best exercises against these neck tensions are loosening exercises during work: You should be aware of how often you tend to pull your shoulders up and before you experience increased muscle tension, you should counteract it by loosening exercises.
A strong shoulder-neck area generally ensures that the tensions do not appear until much later. Therefore, exercises for the rhomboids, back extensor, latissimus and short neck muscles should be performed. 1.
)Exercises Rhomboids: hold upright seat, abdomen and back tension, move elbows backwards at a 90° angle to the body and pull shoulder blades together (rowing). Alternatively, the exercise can also be performed in the prone position and reinforced with a bar or theraband. 2.)
Exercises Latissimus: hold upright seat, abdomen and back tension, stretch arms upwards and pull elbows down at a 90° angle on the sides and pull shoulder blades together (lat pull). Alternatively the exercise can be performed in prone position and can be strengthened with a bar or theraband. 3.)
Back stretcher: Prone position, hold hands at temples and lift upper body upwards. Alternatives are as mentioned above the execution in prone position for latissimus and rhomboids. 4.)
Short neck muscles: Supine position, lift head out of double chin and try to hold for several seconds and then put it down again. Slowly increase the duration. 5.)
Seat: Put hand on cheek, set head in rotation, build up tension in further rotation of head by counter pressure with hand. More exercises are available in the articles:
- Simply circle the shoulders loosely forward and backward
- Shoulders up and drop
- Stretching of the chest muscles in the door frame
- Tilt head to one side, pull down opposite shoulder by holding on to edge of chair. From this position, the head can be led diagonally into the neck or diagonally forward
- Physiotherapy exercises for the neck
- Neck pain – help from physiotherapy
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