Yoga: I need to exercise my cervical spine

Facing cervical spondylosis

Speaking of cervical spondylosis, according to last year's survey data, there were 26. 8% of white-collar workers suffer from this problem. Sitting life makes the neck and waist muscles tense for a long time. Due to lack of exercise, bones, ligaments, and joints lack elasticity. The body is stiff and its function declines. Hidden dangers of diseases are gradually emerging, endangering the overall health of the body.

Let's first look at the core of the body-the spine, which is the most harmful. The spine at the center of the back is not very straight. It has four physiological bends, namely cervical posterior curvature, thoracic anterior curvature, lumbar posterior curvature, and sacral anterior curvature. These four bends can help the intervertebral disc reduce the impact of exercise on the brain. Concussion. Sitting life poses a great threat to these physiological bends.

Cervical curvature consists of 7 cervical vertebrae, 6 intervertebral discs and associated ligaments. In order to support the head, the neck needs to have strong support and strong muscles; on the other hand, in order to adapt to the stimulating reactions of vision, hearing and smell, the neck needs to have high flexibility to maintain coordination and balance of movements between the body and the head. Cervical stiffness and cervical disc herniation caused by sitting living have become the biggest obstacles affecting these functions.

Whether you have cervical spondylosis? Due to the complex structure of the cervical spine, compression or strain of the cervical spine can easily reflect into different symptoms. Some people feel dizzy, some have numbness in their arms, some have back pain, some have stomach pain, chest tightness and shortness of breath, or cause severe pharyngitis. When looking for the cause of the disease, we should not "treat the head for a headache and treat the foot for a sore foot". We should look for the root cause of the disease and pay attention to the misdiagnosis of cervical spondylosis.

In the past two years, the concept of cervical spondylosis has become more broad. Diseases in the cervical vertebra and surrounding soft tissue are collectively referred to as cervical spondylosis. Doctors will make a diagnosis through clinical medical manifestations of cervical spondylosis combined with medical fluoroscopy images. Therefore, medical consultation and consultation must be carried out in a regular hospital or clinic.

Exercise replaces all methods Exercise is the best way to treat cervical spondylosis. From an anatomical point of view, the muscles of the whole body are closely related to the cervical spine almost radially. Any exercise is an exercise for coordination and balance of the whole body, so it will exercise the cervical spine. On the premise of preventing sports injuries, it is very beneficial to appropriately increase the frequency and intensity of exercise.

What must be reminded is that cervical vertebra patients are contraindicated to close their eyes and do large neck circling movements to prevent the vertebral arteries and cervical nerves from being compressed and causing symptoms such as headache, syncope, shoulder and arm pain and numbness in the fingers.

1. Ostrich style

Spread your legs apart at shoulder width, bend over, place your hands under the center of your feet, allowing your palms to communicate with them, lift your head when breathing in, and slowly relax when breathing out. This posture can improve cervical fatigue and can be done in conjunction with Pug pose.

2. Fish style

Lie on your back, arch your body when inhaling, supporting your head and hips, and forming a hole in your back; curl your knees back and cross, and bring your palms together on top of your head or intersect your arms and hold each other's elbow joints. Slowly relax and lie flat while exhaling. This action can place the stress point and extension point on the cervical spine. It is also very helpful to the health of the lumbar spine and can also eliminate wrinkles in the neck. Beginners can straighten their legs, which greatly reduces the difficulty and makes the exercise goals clearer.

3. Turtle style

The two movements of breathing are like a turtle sticking its head out of its shell. Open your knees, sit up straight, and curl your calves back to the base of your thighs; lean forward, open your palms, and lift your cervical spine when you inhale. When you exhale, keep your jaw close to your chest, and the focus of your movement is on your neck. The turtle style mainly exercises the flexibility of the cervical spine, and is also very helpful in shaping the lines of the neck and eliminating double chins.

4. Cat Stretch

Keep kneeling with your hands and knees as gravity support points. When breathing in, your back is recessed and your chin is raised upward. At the same time, lift your hips up, press your shoulders down, and straighten your arms; when breathing out, arch your back so that your chin and chest are close together. The four-point stretching action of a cat can effectively exercise the muscles of the back and abdomen, making the spine more flexible and having a smaller difficulty factor. (Internship Editor: Wu Jinyu)