Nowadays more and more people suffer from back problems, especially in the neck area. Painful tensions or blockages then lead those affected to a doctor or physiotherapist. Through targeted loosening and stretching exercises, the therapist then loosens the muscles to relieve and relax the neck.
In addition, a specific strengthening training of the muscles is carried out to avoid the repeated occurrence of neck pain. If physiotherapeutic measures are used for neck pain, it is important to make sure that the neck pain is not a symptom of a deeper problem, such as damage to the cervical spine. This is the only way to ensure that the therapy does not cause more harm than good. These topics may also be of interest to you:
- Neck pain – What is behind it?
- Physiotherapy HWS Syndrome
- Physiotherapy exercises-HWS
- Physiotherapy for children with shoulder and neck tension
Content exercises
The contents of a physiotherapeutic treatment for neck pain include massages to loosen up the musculature, as well as stretching and strengthening exercises. Some of these exercises are described below. 1.)
Stretching of the lateral neck musclesPosition yourself next to a wall or door frame. Then place the forearm of the side facing the wall against the door frame or wall. The elbow is above the shoulder.
Now turn your head away from the wall, bringing your chin towards your chest. You should feel a stretch in the area of the lateral neck. You can also place the fingers of the other hand on your head and apply gentle pressure to increase the stretch.
Hold this position for 30 seconds. 2.) Stretching the back of the neck musclesTo perform the exercise, you only need a chair.
Sit on the front edge of the chair. Make sure that you sit as straight and upright as possible. If possible, tense your abdomen and gluteal muscles slightly for support.
Now stretch your arms straight forward. Your elbows should point outwards. From this position, bend your arms so that your fingertips rest slightly on your shoulders (do not cross your arms!).
Breathe out and pull your elbows together in front of your chest until they touch your chest slightly. When breathing out, return to the starting position with your arms. Repeat the exercise 5 times.
For this exercise, assume the starting position, which means either standing, legs shoulder-width apart, upper body upright, arms hanging down relaxed at the sides or sitting, also an upright position. Throughout the exercise, the upper body and head remain in this position. Now exert light pressure on your head with your hand, as if you wanted to move it to one side.
With the head withstand the pressure for about 10 seconds. Now repeat this on the other side as well as on the front and back of your head. A total of 3 passes.
4.) Strengthening the muscles of the upper back and neckReturn to the standing basic position from exercise 3. In each hand hold a dumbbell or other weight (e.g. a small water bottle filled with sand).
Your shoulders and arms hang down relaxed and low. The back and head are straight. From this position, slowly pull your shoulders up as if you were shrugging your shoulders in slow motion. Hold this position for 2-3 seconds and then slowly lower your shoulders again. Repeat the exercise 10 times.
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