What's the story behind the neck exercises? Had issues with your neck, if so which? And are they helping?Saturday, May 20, 2017
1) Dynamic Neck isometrics front/back: 3 sets
2) Shoulder external rotations at shoulder height: 3x15
3) Dynamic neck isometrics side/side: 3 sets
4) Quadruped thoracic extension with banded shoulder extension: 3x10
5a) Dead bugs: 3x20
5b) Lying hip adduction: 3x20
5c) Lying hip abduction: 3x20
Then finished with 30 minutes of wall ball
The dynamic neck isometrics I do by keeping constant band tension on my neck while shadow boxing.
What's the story behind the neck exercises? Had issues with your neck, if so which? And are they helping?
I see.I've had neck issues for years. I've tweaked my neck doing all sorts of things from exercises (chinups, overhead pressing, GHRs) to sports (lacrosse mostly), to just sneezing or singing. Sometimes it gets bad enough where I can't get out of bed and need to miss work. It's the biggest limiting factor in my lacrosse game because it's not an injury I understand or know how to protect. My chiropractor says everything is working fine now and I've graduated from our sessions but I don't think I've made any improvement.
Xrays and Ultrasound haven't shown anything significant and I haven't had an MRI.
Nothing has really helped yet but I do what I can. Activating my deep neck flexors, rear delts, and mobilizing my T-spine seems to be good before games though.
I see.
The reason I ask is because I've been having neck issues on and off for years. Mostly aggravated with OHP work as well, and shoulders too a little. Funny enough, T-spine extension, some work on posture, some ascending trapezeus work, some serratus work and gradually getting comfortable with light and unstable unilateral overhead work has helped a lot. Also, not hanging in my neck so much when resting or watching tv.
Things took a turn for the worse about 8 months ago though when I suffered a concussion and subsequently whiplash. My neck has really been bothering me since then. I've been trying some deep flexor work, besides the rest, and it has helped but it's coming along slow. Especially since I'm sparring and wrestling again now if I land on my neck wrong I can barely move it for days. I might try some of the isometrics and dynamics you're doing as well!
No radicular symptoms, but when it is worst I can get a little tingly in my trap1 area. Certain days it's very crunchy so I suspect some DDD, but I won't dwell on it. Whatever they would find on an MRI, or not, wouldn't matter that much anyway right now.
Anyway, plan is to seek out a good physio that knows this stuff. I'm a physio myself, and I'm reading the clinical guidelines, but I'm not specialised in cervical issues and I need someone to do manual treament on me as well.
Good luck with your training, sorry for the rant lol. I'm curious to see if something works well for you! I'll let you know if I have a breakthrough of some sorts as well!
Luckily I've interned at a few decent places and I still have a few contacts at my school. Hopefully I can find someone legit, they are out there.Haha ya let me know ... If I can get past this injury it will be life changing. Mine is also mostly a whiplash based injury.
Good luck finding a physio that knows their stuff. I've talked to several physios/chiros and haven't found one that seems truly competent on my issues. I usually just get generic advice for what exercises I should start doing and they're always the same exercises I've been doing consistently for years.
Luckily I've interned at a few decent places and I still have a few contacts at my school. Hopefully I can find someone legit, they are out there.
Have you had anything manually done? I don't mean like a chiro just cracking you, but more like actual joint mobilisation? I'm hoping to find someone who is good with arthro/osteokinematics. Anyway! I'll let you know how it goes.
I see, when you say any manual therapy, what exactly are they doing? Traction or manipulations (hard and quick cracks and pulls like chiros do)?Any sort of manual therapy, mobilizations, massage only seems to make the issue worse. Acupuncture or dry needling has provided some relief though.
I think my problem is a combination of a few things: a lack of stability/too much mobility at a certain vertebrae, coupled with damage at that vertebrae, and some overactive muscles in the area that fire too hard and too often to "protect" the issue.
I see, when you say any manual therapy, what exactly are they doing? Traction or manipulations (hard and quick cracks and pulls like chiros do)?
Have you had anyone actually do some real arthrokinematics on you like Mulligan or OMT? Like finding out exactly what movements in the joints are causing problems and doing assisted manual therapy on them? There's a big difference between a chiro doing spinal manipulations pretty randomly (honestly I think most chiros don't really know what they are doing, even if manipulations can bring pain relief) and someone actually skilled in joint structures, movements, glides, translations and so forth.
ART is a pretty good method imo, but it depends on the "pathology". Okay, so you've been around hehe.I should have mentioned that my chiropractor isn't the typical chiropractor, he doesn't do any cracking. He does his work in the same method as a physiotherapist would.
That being said I have also seen two physiotherapists for this as well (my ex girlfriend was also a physio)
I'm not sure what those terms mean (arthrokinematics or Mulligan or OMT) but this is some of the stuff I've had done:
During assessment, isolating a single vertebrae and manually moving the head to assess movement/mobility, testing each vertebrae in the cervical spine.
During treatment, typical ART on the upper trapz, massage on the upper back / neck, etc.
Anything that stresses my neck or increases movement generally makes my symptoms worse while stability work and acupuncture does not.