Here is an easy practice to help you try to prevent shoulder, neck and back issues. The aim of this stacking exercise is to reduce the tension in the muscles and create more even effort in the muscles that assist in keeping you upright.
Here are some basics:
Now most importantly, RELAX!
These tips are meant as a guide to help you achieve a good posture but remember not to hold yourself in a rigid position, too much tension in your body is more likely to cause injury than prevent it.
It takes time to practice good posture so be patient with yourself.
What is a cervical spine disc injury
Many people are familiar with a “disc bulge” or “slipped disc” in the lower back but did you know it can also occur in your neck?
Your spine is made up of three sections – “lumbar” in your lower back, “thoracic” in your upper back and the “cervical” spine in your neck.
Like the rest of your spine, your neck is made up of bones (vertebrae) stacked on top of one another, joined together by intervertebral discs (IVD). The IVD is made up of an outer ring of strong cartilage and a nucleus in the centre of a soft gel-like consistency. The IVD acts as a shock absorber in the spine.
As you get older or with wear and tear this disc may deteriorate and the outer ring can tear, allowing the soft gel nucleus to be pushed through the ring of cartilage giving the appearance that the disc is “bulging” or has “slipped”.
If the disc bulge is severe it may press on nerves as they exit the spine and cause symptoms such as severe pain, pins and needles and numbness in the neck, shoulders, arms or hands. This is because the nerves that come from your neck travel down your arms and into your hands.
A cervical disc bulge is more common in people over 40 years of age and is often a result of wear and tear over time. Some people with jobs that involve a lot of heavy lifting or people who participate in sports such as weight lifting may be at greater risk.
If you have symptoms of a cervical disc bulge, it can be confirmed by MRI scan. However, we know that correlation doesn’t always equal causation when it comes to disc bulges and a small percentage of people may have a disc bulge in their neck with no pain.
The majority of people with a cervical disc bulge will see improvement in their symptoms and substantial recovery without needing surgery in 4-6 months while complete recovery can range up to 2 years.
Osteopathy and Cervical disc injury
Our wrists, hands and fingers are capable of many fine, controlled and complex movements, whether it is playing a musical instrument, a sporting activity, your occupation or just one of the tasks of day to day life.
Many of the muscles which control these movements come from our forearm and these muscles are attached to the bones of our hand and fingers via tendons. Where these tendons pass over the wrist, they travel inside little lubricated sheaths. Some of the more common tendinopathies are caused by irritation at this point, often due to overuse or repetitive use causing friction.
Tendinopathy can occur when these tendons become overused or overloaded, often due to an unaccustomed activity or an increase in the amount of an activity you already do. Maybe you’ve started a new desk job with a lot of computer work, have had a baby and now spend a lot more time lifting and carrying them or are playing a lot more tennis. So the affected tendon is placed under greater load or is being used more repetitively than it is used to and this can lead to pain.
Here we will discuss some of the more common types of tendinopathy that occur at the wrist and hand:
Tendons may be affected at the front or back or either side of the wrist, depending on which action or activity is aggravating them. For example, golfers and tennis players are more likely to experience pain at the back of the wrist whereas rock climbers are more likely to experience pain at the front of the wrist.
Signs and symptoms:
- pain and tenderness in the region of the wrist
- increased pain during particular movements of the wrist (eg. bending forward or backward)
- feeling of weakness in the wrist when trying to lift an object or weight-bear (eg. when doing a push-up)
- difficulty doing everyday things like turning a door knob or lifting the kettle
This involves the tendons on the thumb side of the wrist. It is more common in women than men and is commonly seen in workers (eg. cashiers) and new mothers (due to repetitively lifting a baby).
Signs and symptoms:
- pain and tenderness over the thumb side of the wrist
- increased pain when clenching the thumb in a fist and deviating the wrist sideways, away from your thumb
- may cause swelling
This condition occurs when one of the little lubricating sheaths in the fingers or thumb becomes thickened and the tendon gets “stuck” when it tries to glide through. The finger may get stuck in a bent position and be difficult to straighten. It is more common in women than men, if you have diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis or do heavy gripping activities.
Signs and symptoms:
- pain when bending or straightening the finger or thumb
- there may be a painful pop or click or a locking sensation when straightening the finger
- there may be swelling over the area
- you may feel a lump on the inside of your finger
– Our osteopaths will perform a complete assessment and determine a diagnosis of your pain. - Our osteopaths will differentiate which type of tendinopathy you may have and tailor a treatment and management plan accordingly. - Osteopathic techniques including soft tissue massage, stretching, joint articulation and gentle joint mobilisation may be used to help reduce joint restrictions and muscle tension in the forearm and hand. - We may chat about some small modifications you can make to your daily routine to avoid aggravating the symptoms. - We will advise you on appropriate exercises to slowly and correctly re-load the tendon to ensure optimum recovery.
Feeling stiffness and soreness in your hands and fingers? Osteoarthritis is a common condition in these areas. It is where, over time the protective cartilage on the ends of your bones slowly starts to break down. This leads to rubbing of ‘bone on bone’ and can cause tissue inflammation and pain
Symptoms may include:
As Osteopaths we can help reduce inflammation but releasing tension in and around the symptomiuc area as well as provide tips to reduce pain moving forward. For more information or if you are struggling with hand pain, book an appointment with one of our osteopaths today (see link in bio)
Carpel tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a painful common condition of the hand where there is pressure on the median nerve as it runs within the carpel tunnel of the wrist. The carpel tunnel is a narrow passageway on the palm side of your wrist that is made up of your ‘carpel’ bones and ligaments.
Osteopathy can provide a conservative treatment option for CTS by:
References:
