How to relieve cervical pain when lowering the head

If you feel pain in your cervical spine when you lower your head, it means you have cervical spondylosis. There are many types of cervical spondylosis, including spinal cord type, nerve root type, vertebral artery type, and a mixed type. So, how can we relieve the pain in the cervical spine when we lower our head? First of all, we should understand that we cannot exercise blindly, otherwise it may aggravate the damage to the cervical spine. The correct way to exercise the cervical spine is to do neck exercises, shake the upper limbs, local massage, etc. Let us learn about it together below.

[Exercise method for cervical pain caused by bowing head]

1. Look up and down: lower your head and try to keep your chin close to your chest. Tilt your head back and push your jaw forward and upward as far as it will go. Repeat this process, allowing the jaw to move in an arc shape.

2. Look left and right: Turn your head and neck to the left to the limit, and then to the right to the limit. If you are lying on your back, you can also lift your head off the pillow and turn your neck left and right, and let your ears reach the pillow as much as possible.

3. Look up to the left and up to the right: take a deep breath, rotate your head as far as possible to the upper left, look up, return to the original position while exhaling, and then turn to the right.

4. Tilting left and right: Tilt your head and neck to the left as much as possible, move your left ear as close to your left shoulder as possible, and then to the right.

5. Shrug: Push your shoulders up and shrug repeatedly.

6. Don’t lower your head: Press your forehead with your hand and force your head down for 10 seconds.

7. Do not raise your head: Cross your hands on the back of your head, resist raising your head with all your strength, and hold for 10 seconds.

8. Shake your head: Slowly move your head in a clockwise and counterclockwise circle alternately.

9. Stretch the neck and do the "ball-heading" exercise: Let your shoulders drop, lift your neck, stretch your neck and back to do the ball-heading exercise, and continue for 3 to 5 seconds.

10. Beat shoulders and back: Lightly clench both fists, beat shoulders with one hand and beat back with the other hand (when the left hand beats the left shoulder, the right hand beats the right back; when the right hand beats the right shoulder, the left hand beats the left back). Move back and forth simultaneously, do 20 to 30 times.

11. Neck massage: Use the thumbs or four fingers of both hands, or the palm of one hand, to massage the muscles on both sides of the cervical vertebrae from top to bottom. Move back and forth several times to relieve the symptoms of numbness and pain in the neck.

12. Rub the shoulders and neck: Use your palms to rub your shoulders and neck back and forth until they feel slightly warm.

【Precautions for cervical pain when bowing your head】

1 Avoid long-term head-down posture: Avoid working with your head down for a long time. Change your body position after working for about an hour and do some neck exercises. Change bad work and life habits, such as reading or watching TV in bed.

2 Avoid sleeping with a pillow that is too high: the center of the pillow should be slightly concave, with a height of 12~16cm. The neck should be resting on the pillow, not hanging in the air, and the head should be kept slightly tilted back. For those who are accustomed to side sleeping, the pillow should be placed at the same height as the shoulder.

3 Avoid hyperextension and hyperflexion of the neck: Patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy should avoid hyperextension and hyperflexion of the neck when washing face, brushing teeth, drinking water, and writing.