What to do if your neck cannot turn

What should we do if our neck cannot turn? This situation may be encountered frequently in our lives. First, we need to understand the reasons why our neck cannot turn. Most of them are caused by maintaining a posture for a long time during sleep, which causes strain on the neck muscles, which is what people usually call "stiff neck". Sometimes it is caused by a certain disease, such as cervical spondylosis. Let’s take a closer look at what to do if your neck can’t turn.

1. Correct sitting posture

Develop a correct sitting posture from now on. Although it may be a little uncomfortable when you first correct it, you should still make the change in order to completely relax your shoulders. At the same time, it is recommended that as a white-collar worker, you should not work so hard sometimes. You should get up and walk around from time to time to exercise your neck and shoulders.

2. Active Neck

Regardless of whether you have neck pain or not, you should intentionally twist your neck several times after working for 1 to 2 hours. Be gentle and slow in your movements, and try to move your neck as far as possible in all directions. This way, your joints can be fully relaxed.

3. Look up and far

Looking up and looking into the distance is also one of the best ways to reduce pain at the moment. When looking up and looking into the distance, you can only look at the distant scenery at the same time. This will not only help eliminate fatigue and cervical pain, but also help protect eyesight.

4. Change your sleeping position

At this time, you must not believe in any nonsense about sleeping soundly. Of course, it does not mean that the lower the pillow, the better. Instead, you should try to choose a pillow with a slight concave in the center so that your neck can get sufficient contact. Remember not to leave it hanging in the air, otherwise you will get a stiff neck. Put away your cell phone, magazines, etc. before going to bed.

The editor reminds you that if you wash your hair during this period, you must blow it dry, otherwise you may suffer from cervical spondylosis. When your neck hurts, you can choose to massage your neck. When you work normally, you should pay attention to the combination of work and rest, and never overwork. The editor recommends that you take a proper rest after working for 45 minutes.

(1) The height of the pillow: The physiological lordosis of the cervical spine is the basis for maintaining the balance inside and outside the spinal canal under normal conditions. If you do not use a pillow or the pillow is too low, your neck will tilt backward excessively, which can increase the cervical lordosis. The muscles and anterior longitudinal ligament in front of the vertebral body will fatigue due to excessive tension, causing chronic damage. The yellow ligament behind the vertebral canal will bend and protrude forward into the vertebral canal. At this time, although the vertebral canal is stretched, its volume becomes smaller, and the spinal cord and nerve roots are easily stimulated or directly compressed by various factors such as nucleus pulposus and osteophytes, resulting in clinical symptoms. If the pillow is too high, the neck will flex forward excessively, which can easily cause strain on the muscles behind the cervical spine and the nuchal ligament, supraspinous ligament, interspinous ligament, and yellow ligament. The posterior wall of the dura mater sac in the cervical spinal canal will be tightened and shifted forward, compressing the spinal cord, especially the anterior central spinal artery.

Protruding or extruded nucleus pulposus and osteophytes, especially in patients with developmental spinal stenosis, will cause corresponding symptoms and signs. The pillow height for patients with cervical spondylosis must be appropriate. It should not be too high or too low. The principle should be to sleep on the pillow without twisting the neck, so as to keep the cervical spine in a normal physiological state and prevent or accelerate the degeneration of the cervical spine.

Generally, the height of a pillow should be determined by its diameter, and it should be placed on the back of the head. According to different cases of cervical spondylosis, adjust the height of the pillow appropriately. For those with motor dysfunction due to herniated or protruding cervical disc nucleus pulposus, or direct compression of the spinal cord by osteophytes at the posterior edge of the vertebral body, the pillow can be placed lower to reduce pressure from compressive objects in front of the spinal canal. For those with hypertrophy and invagination of the yellow ligament and compression on the posterior spinal cord, the pillow can be slightly higher to reduce pressure on the spinal cord. For patients with congenital or acquired cervical spinal stenosis accompanied by bone hyperplasia at the posterior edge of the vertebral body, cervical tuberculosis, cervical tumors, and early-stage ankylosing spondylitis, it is still appropriate to use a pillow of normal height.

(2) Pillow core: Commonly used pillow cores include wheat bran, cattail fluff, kapok, rice husk, duck down, chicken feathers, goose feathers, slow-rebound sponge, etc. The first seven fillings are uniform, light and breathable, but cattail down is prone to clump; kapok and duck down are more expensive; rice husks are mainly produced in the south, are hard and have a wide range of origins, and the height of the pillow can be adjusted at will. The specific type of pillow filling should be selected based on personal habits, economic conditions and under the guidance of a doctor.

(3) Pillow shape: The best shape is a B shape, which is low in the middle and high at both ends. Its advantages are: the low middle part maintains the physiological curvature of the cervical spine, and the high parts at both ends can fix and brake the head and neck.