Dr. Shakeel

Cervical spondylosis is an age related disorder affecting the discs and joints in your neck. The overuse of the bone and cartilage in the cervical spine of your neck leads to cervical spondylosis. While it is mostly caused by age, it can also be caused by other factors. Stiffness and severe, chronic pain are the most common problems with patients afflicted with cervical spondylosis. While in others, it might not cause problems and they can go about their daily activities.

Physiotherapy for Cervical Spondylosis
There is no cure for cervical spondylosis, but its symptoms can be treated with physiotherapy. If you have chronic pain in your neck, shoulder blades or arms, a physiotherapist can provide effective pain relief by strengthening your vertebrae and neck. This will improve your posture and prevent any relapse of the pain.

Firstly, the physiotherapist will evaluate your condition; check your reflexes and strength. Then, the physiotherapist will move on to the following treatments:

1. Stretching, strengthening and straightening exercises: Before beginning these exercises, your physiotherapist will first apply cold or heat to the affected area and then proceed with a deep tissue massage or electric stimulation. When your muscles are relaxed, the exercises will begin only then. These exercises are performed to strengthen the muscles in your neck. Through these, you will learn how to improve your range of movement and posture.
2. Neck traction: Pulling your head to stretch out your spine is called neck traction. This technique is used to improve movement and ease the pain. Traction is used to open the spaces between the vertebras gently in order to ease pressure on the distressed discs. Traction is done continuously or sporadically, with short periods of rest in between. If you cannot find the right physiotherapist to do this for you, there are devices to help you stretch your spine.
3. Cervical collars and pillows: Neck pillows or cervical pillows, are made to keep your neck steady while you sleep. Cervical collars are also called neck braces which are used to support the neck. While cervical collars have been proven to be quite beneficial, there isn’t much evidence to support cervical pillows in treating cervical spondylosis. You can always consult physiotherapist before purchasing a cervical pillow.

Exercises to Put an End to Cervical Spondylosis

Exercise helps ease arthritis pain and stiffness

As you consider starting an arthritis exercise program, understand what's within your limits and what level of exercise is likely to give you results.

Exercise is crucial for people with arthritis. It increases strength and flexibility, reduces joint pain, and helps combat fatigue. Of course, when stiff and painful joints are already bogging you down, the thought of walking around the block or swimming a few laps might seem overwhelming.

But you don't need to run a marathon or swim as fast as an olympic competitor to help reduce arthritis symptoms. Even moderate exercise can ease your pain and help you maintain a healthy weight. When arthritis threatens to immobilize you, exercise keeps you moving. Not convinced? read on.

Why exercise is vital

Exercise can help you improve your health and fitness without hurting your joints. With your current treatment program, exercise can:

Strengthen the muscles around your joints

Help you maintain bone strength

Give you more energy to get through the day

Make it easier to get a good night's sleep

Help you control your weight

Enhance your quality of life

Improve your balance

Though you might think exercise will aggravate your joint pain and stiffness, that's not the case. Lack of exercise actually can make your joints even more painful and stiff.

That's because keeping your muscles and surrounding tissue strong is crucial to maintaining support for your bones. Not exercising weakens those supporting muscles, creating more stress on your joints.

Check with your doctor first

Talk to your doctor about fitting exercise into your treatment plan. What types of exercises are best for you depends on your type of arthritis and which joints are involved. Your doctor or a physical therapist can work with you to find the exercise plan that gives you the most benefit with the least aggravation of your joint pain.

Exercises for arthritis

Your doctor or physical therapist can recommend exercises for you, which might include range-of-motion exercises, strengthening exercises, aerobic exercise and other activities.

Range-of-motion exercises

These exercises relieve stiffness and increase your ability to move your joints through their full range of motion. These exercises might include movements such as raising your arms over your head or rolling your shoulders forward and backward. In most cases, these exercises can be done daily.

Strengthening exercises

These exercises help you build strong muscles that help support and protect your joints. Weight training is an example of a strengthening exercise that can help you maintain or increase your muscle strength. Remember to avoid exercising the same muscle groups two days in a row. Rest a day between your workouts, and take an extra day or two if your joints are painful or swollen.

When starting a strength-training program, a three-day-a-week program can help you jump-start your improvement, but two days a week is all you need to maintain your gains.

Aerobic exercise

Aerobic or endurance exercises help with your overall fitness. They can improve your cardiovascular health, help you control your weight and give you more stamina and energy.

Examples of low-impact aerobic exercises that are easier on your joints include walking, bicycling, swimming and using an elliptical machine. Try to work your way up to 150 minutes of moderately intense aerobic exercise per week. You can split that time into 10-minute blocks if that's easier on your joints.

Moderate intensity aerobic exercise is the safest and most effective if it's done most days of the week, but even a couple of days a week is better than no exercise. To determine if you are in the moderate intensity exercise zone, you should be able to carry on a conversation while exercising, though your breathing rate will be increased.

Other activities

Any movement, no matter how small, can help. Daily activities such as mowing the lawn, raking leaves and walking the dog counts.

Body awareness exercises, such as gentle forms of yoga or tai chi, can help you improve balance, prevent falls, improve posture and coordination, and promote relaxation. Be sure to tell your instructor about your condition and avoid positions or movements that can cause pain.