Cervical Spine Stenosis | Best Exercises to Decrease Pain (and Other Symptoms)

welcome to movement and function i'm beth wagner in today's video i'm going to show you my seven best exercises to treat stenosis in the cervical spine which is this area here in your neck stenosis refers to narrowing of the canals where your spinal cord and your nerves run within the spinal column and where they exit the spinal column nerves can become squeezed or compressed in those tight spaces the best thing we can do from an exercise or movement standpoint is to try to open those tight spaces and to keep the spaces around that area as open as possible the first thing we're going to do the first exercise is a posture correction sitting in a supportive chair start at your base and make sure that your pelvis is neutral so your hips aren't tipped too far forward or slouched back but right in the middle from there coming up your trunk relax your shoulder blades down and back and lift your chest think of a string being attached to the top of your head that's gently pulling up to help you be as tall as possible once your shoulder blades are down and back nice and relaxed do a little bit of a chin tuck pulling your chin straight back now with stenosis sometimes this chin tuck straight back can be a little uncomfortable or painful so you might need to add a little bit of a nod to this bringing your chin down toward your chest just a little bit to take a little of the pressure off in the region where there is stenosis okay so from this tall posture we'll start in with the stretches number two is shoulder blade squeeze so we'll squeeze the shoulder blades down and back and rest squeeze down and back and rest repeat 10 times with smooth fluid motion the next stretch is a thoracic extension stretch this stretch aims to stretch the region in your mid-back the more flexibility you have in your thoracic spine in your mid-back then the less stress and strain there is on the neck we'll bring your hands up behind your head if that's uncomfortable you could also do this with your arms crossed here so hands up behind your head here elbows forward or out to the side wherever they're comfortable and now again with that string on the top of your head pulling up as tall as you can get you'll want to lace the fingers underneath the base of your skull here just like that and as you pull up you're going to tip back so think of stretching or bending through the upper and mid back and repeat 10 times just go back as far as you feel comfortable pause and then return to the starting position if you feel any pain or discomfort in your neck then really try to pull up with the base of your hand underneath the occiput or the base of your skull so you're trying to pull your head up as you lean back if you still feel some discomfort try to just keep your your chin tucked a little bit like this and continue that movement okay so continue as best as you can shoot for 10 repetitions the next one is a doorway peck stretch you can do this one along a doorway or just sitting here comfortably i'll show you in this position starting with tall posture lift one arm up so your elbow is just about at shoulder level or a little bit below your elbow at about 90 degrees and now try to pull your elbow and your arm back you should feel a comfortable stretch through the front of your chest and into the front of your arm here pause for 15 to 20 seconds and then lower and repeat on the other side lift your arm up pull your elbow and forearm back and focus on feeling the stretch through the pec and the front of the shoulder and arm if you start to get numb or tingly before 15 or 20 seconds then lower your arm right away repeat three times on both sides now depending on the width of your doorway you might also be able to do both arms at the same time by bringing your forearms up into the doorway and simply stepping forward so that you feel the stretch through both sides of your chest in front of your shoulders at the same time and relax the last three are focused on neck motion itself the first one is flexion this one tends to be very comfortable for people with stenosis this typically is the position of relief starting with tall posture lower your chin down to your chest and come back up you could hold that position for 5 to 10 seconds or as long as it feels comfortable the next next stretch is side bending starting with tall posture bring one ear over to your shoulder hold for five seconds come back up and repeat on the other side hold for five seconds and return to the center if that's painful you could try a couple modifications the first is simply to not go so far and not hold the position for so long if you need to do just a small side bend with just a pause and no hold back and forth that's a great place to start another modification is to do a little bit of a chin tuck first and then the side bend like this the last stretch for today is neck rotation starting with good posture a little bit of a chin tuck and nod and turn to look over one shoulder come back to the center and turn to the other side pause and come back to the center and repeat that five times on each side i suggest starting these exercises once a day if they feel comfortable for you and it feels like they're doing a good job of relieving your pain go ahead and add in a second set for the day on the other hand if it feels like it's a bit provocative or irritating for you back off stick to just once a day and try just a couple repetitions of each of these exercises as your body loosens up and feels more comfortable with that movement you could increase the repetitions and then add in the second set for the day i hope you find these seven exercises helpful for decreasing pain and other symptoms in your neck due to stenosis if you have any questions or comments please leave them down below and if you like this video please consider subscribing to my channel and it's always great to see a thumbs up here's to your healing health and happiness have a fantastic day

Channel: Movement & Function

Views: 55,051

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Id: NJYpx2zKM_A

Length: 7min 2sec (422 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 16 2021