The main function of the cervical spine is to bear the weight of the head and maintain the balance of the head, the realization of the function of the head is accomplished through the complex and tightly organized activities of the cervical vertebrae and their connected structures. If “activity” is lost, the mechanical balance of its “movement” is out of balance, its static mechanics and stability cannot be adjusted at any time, the stiffness and strength of the spine is abnormal, endogenous and exogenous stability is damaged, then the compression, traction, torsion, shear and other loads of the cervical spine are changed, which leads to ectopic compression or chemical stimulation and causes and cervical spondylosis. The dynamic factors that maintain the exogenous stability of the cervical spine are mainly muscles. The cervical muscles include the muscles of forward flexion, back extension, lateral flexion, and rotation of the cervical spine, and the muscles of forward flexion especially the long cervical muscles stop between C4 at the vertebral body and the transverse process, respectively. If one side of the muscle contraction, in the same tension, because of the force arm is not equal easy to C4-C5 between the force is uneven and produce rotation displacement, the muscle force on both sides of the uneven produce imbalance. The muscles of posterior extension and lateral flexion are mainly the head pinch muscles, trapezius, sternocleidomastoid, cephalicus longus, cervicalis longus, scapularis longus, etc. The analysis of its muscle attachment C5 is relatively weak, C4-C5 cervical stability is the worst, therefore, in the soft tissue fatigue injury, trauma muscle spasm caused by the internal and external imbalance, easy to cause C4, C5-based cervical curve changes, vertebral body posterior edge, juncture joint, small joint, etc. pathological changes. Trauma can lead to weakening of the posterior musculature, joint capsule and posterior muscles, and long-term strain can lead to weakening of the posterior musculature, tearing of the joint capsule, and fatigue of the ligaments followed by loss of effective support of the posterior structures to the spine. The posterior muscles play a dominant role in supporting the spine in terms of motion, but if the spine is continuously loaded, either statically or dynamically, this can lead to deformation of the spine due to difficulty in muscle support. The lack of appropriate spinal restraints leads to dynamic instability and spinal subluxation, which accelerates cervical degeneration. Cervical spondylosis inevitably leads to weakened muscle strength, mechanization, adhesions, and reduced muscle and ligament elasticity. Gao Zhenmei, Department of Rehabilitation, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
The function of cervical muscle exercise ① gives full play to the motor self-regulation of cervical muscles, strengthens the self-protection ability of tissues, adjusts the disorder of intervertebral small joints and loosens the adhesions between small joints. ②Produces pumping effect on blood through functional exercise, promotes blood circulation of affected tissues, reduces swelling of tissues, eliminates inflammation and edema of nerve roots, loosens muscle spasm and prevents muscle atrophy. It increases the metabolism of muscles and improves muscle tone, so that the conductivity, contractility and responsiveness of muscles are improved. ③ The metabolism of bone adaptation increases the organic component of bone and decreases the inorganic component, which increases the strength and toughness of bone. Neck muscle function exercise balances muscle tone to maintain the stability of the cervical spine, thus effectively playing a protective role, improving its compensatory function and adaptability correcting poor body posture or correcting a certain physiological curvature, and strengthening the stability of the intervertebral disc and spinal bone and joint. Cervical muscle exercise is not easy more head rotation, more head rotation, head shaking movements, whether clockwise or counterclockwise, the cervical collar muscles are in a relaxed state, which may cause further damage to the interosseous soft tissues, further damage to the balance, and even make the condition worse unfavorable. What kind of cervical muscle functional exercise can safely and effectively restore its exogenous stability – muscle power balance, maintain or enhance the metabolism of muscles and cervical joint ligaments, regulate the balance. In the exercise should pay attention to the cervical spine relative brake, exercise action is appropriate in the cervical muscle tension state, the action should not be fast, advocate the cervical shoulder behind the extension of functional exercise, both can exercise too much flexion strain strain on the back of the neck muscles, can avoid the damage of improper neck activities, the effective exercise of the soft tissues of the neck. Through our experience this special neck and shoulder back extension can not only avoid the damage caused by the transitional activities of the cervical spine, but also exercise to rebuild the stability of the exogenous muscles and maintain a new balance of stability inside and outside. It can effectively delay the development of cervical spondylosis.