The cervical plexus is a group of nerves that supply sensory data to and from the head, neck and shoulders. A pinched nerve in the cervical region behind the neck can lead to severe pain, weakness and numbing in the neck, back and arms. This condition is called cervical radiculopathy and can be greatly helped by stretching and strengthening exercises.
Range of Motion
With cervical radiculopathy, the goal of exercise is to increase a range of motion in the neck. Flexibility releases pressure on the nerve and allows for better posture which prevents further injury. Your doctor will look to create a series of movements that work flexion, extension, lateral flexion and rotation in your neck.
Flexion is the motion that brings your head and neck forward. Extension allows you to look up, which pulls the head and neck back. Lateral flexion takes your ears from shoulder to shoulder. Rotation involves turning your neck side to side.
Stretches
When doing stretches for a pinched nerve in your neck, be sure to move slowly and breath deeply through the stretches to provide nutrient-rich oxygen to your muscles. Though you may be in pain, do your best to relax through the stretch to prevent muscle spasms leading to more pain and possibly greater injury. There are five exercises to stretch your neck:
The first is cervical flexion and extension. Simply look up and then down, bringing your chin into your chest. The second exercise is lateral flexion---tilting your head. Get your ear as close to your shoulder as possible. You may not be able to do this, but relax and do what you can. When doing the third, rotation, do not do full neck circles. Simply look from left to right as far as you can, holding on each side for three seconds. The last two exercises need to be done standing with feet shoulder-width apart. The fourth involves clasping your hands behind your head and bending your upper torso from side to side trying to bring your elbow down to the knee on the same side of the body. The last stretch involves clasping your hands behind your back and pulling downward.
Strength Exercises
Isometric exercises are often the most effective neck-strengthening exercises. Isometric is a type of exercise where you don't take the muscle through a range of motion but instead provide constant resistance that causes the muscles to contract. This is less risky than doing exercises involving weights where you can further injure the area with stress or strain and bad form.
To accomplish these isometric exercises, you will do the first three stretches described in the previous section. But when you do these for strengthening, place one hand in the opposite direction of the movement to provide resistance. For example, if you are doing the first flexion exercise where you bring your chin to your chest, place your hand on your forehead and provide gentle resistance to the motion. You will place your hand on the back of your head for extension strengthening and on each ear for lateral flexion. For rotation, place your hand over your cheek just in front of your ear for proper support and resistance.
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