Rehabilitation of neck and shoulder pain

  With the widespread use of computers and cell phones, people’s daily life has changed significantly. Many office workers have neck and shoulder pain, dizziness, headaches, numbness in the arms and other discomforts, and the patients who come to the clinic are mainly young adults, and even some children who go to school also have the corresponding symptoms. The “cervical spondylosis” familiar to the people has become a part of many people’s lives. In fact, “cervical spondylosis” is not serious, but the attack has a great impact on life, some people onset of neck pain, limited movement (can not turn the head), some people show headache, and even some will appear dizzy vomiting symptoms.  So if you really have neck and shoulder pain or have been diagnosed by a doctor as “cervical spondylosis”, how do you treat it?  The causes of cervical spondylosis are diverse, and each patient’s condition is different, so it is necessary to combine the patient’s personal situation and carry out targeted comprehensive treatment.  1, posture therapy: the occurrence of cervical spondylosis is mostly related to posture, some patients use computers and cell phones for a long time, or maintain a low, head forward posture, so that the force line of the cervical spine is poor, resulting in muscle and fascia strain, and then the occurrence of osteophytes. For such patients, it is necessary to actively correct poor posture and conduct correct posture training so that the cervical spine is in a better line of force, so that the strength of the muscles around the cervical spine is balanced and the forces on the joints are evenly distributed to avoid excessive local muscle tension.  The correct sitting posture is shown in Figure 1: 2. Physical therapy: Many patients are familiar with physical therapy and know that cervical spondylosis can be done with traction and electrotherapy. Traction therapy can relieve muscle spasm, and medium-frequency pulse electrotherapy and low-frequency pulse electrotherapy can relax the muscles, and all these treatments can improve the patient’s symptoms.  3.Manipulation therapy: Manipulation therapy in rehabilitation treatment is based on the knowledge of modern anatomy, biomechanics, kinesiology and other related disciplines to deal with the patient’s pain, restricted movement and other symptoms, and to correct the patient’s abnormal movement patterns, which is different from the patient’s understanding of “massage therapy”. For patients with neck and shoulder pain, manual therapy can improve the patient’s pain and symptoms such as head and neck movement; at the same time, it can also assist the patient to carry out some corresponding training.  4.Exercise therapy: Patients with cervical spondylosis must also carry out exercise therapy, which includes some posture training, stability training, muscle strength training and so on. The following are some simple exercise methods, but according to each patient’s situation is different, but also need to listen to the doctor’s treatment recommendations.  (1) Cervical spine range of motion training: Sit or stand, relax the neck, respectively, forward flexion, back extension, lateral flexion and rotation of the neck, each direction of action repeated 5 times. This can be repeated every 30 min. (Figure 2) (2) Isometric contraction exercise: Sit or stand, relax the neck, apply forward, backward, left and right resistance by hand, keep the neck in neutral position, maintain it for 5 seconds and then relax, repeat 3-5 times. (As in Figure 3) (3) Neck flexor group training: sitting or standing position, backward jaw collection, feel the muscles at the back of the head being stretched, maintain 5 seconds, repeat 3-5 times. As in Figure 4.