Cervical Disc Exercises

The neck has seven cervical discs, with C-7 being the most prominent one in many people. This is because generally it has a very obvious facet or bony ridge that protrudes. Cervical disc exercises can improve overall posture and prevent Dowager's hump --- a hunchback in the upper spine. Simple range-of-motion exercises and also gentle traction is appropriate for most healthy people.

Architecture of the Neck

• The cervical spine can be easily injured from a whiplash in an accident or stiff and misaligned from poor postures while working at a desk for long periods of time.
  There are discs that cushion the vertrabrae. Whenever you exercise the neck, move slowly without throwing the head around on the neck. The neck is a pivot joint and should be exercised minimally and carefully to prevent injury.

Appropriate Neck Exercises

• Stiffness is usually the result of keeping the head in one position and the supporting muscles around it tire, such as SCM (sternoclastomastoid) that attaches the head to the neck at the front of the chest.

  Soft and slow rotations of the neck are generally appropriate for most healthy people. Sit tall with a straight spine and tilt the head to the left, back, side and center for two to three times and repeat in the other direction. This range-of-movement exercise will help prevent common neck stiffness.

Cautions

• Exercises such as found in yoga including headstand (Sirsasana) is not necessarily a good idea for most people. The neck muscles tend to not be the strongest muscles in people and the upper back, chest and belly muscles should do the work of keeping the neck safe in a headstand. This is an example of a very common exercise that can injure the neck: the entire weight of the body is balanced on top of the head and moves through the neck bones. Instead, work slowly with a skilled teacher or do a much healthier form of neck traction.

  Find a set of gymnastic rings or a high bar and either hold the rings or bar and go upside down. This creates therapeutic traction --- creating space between the vertabrae of the neck.