The age of people suffering from aching, debilitating pains of the head, neck, and shoulders was significantly younger because of the sedentary lifestyle of not only the older generation, but also of schoolchildren.
Scoliosis, osteochondrosis, myositis, hypertension deprive of full-fledged life, while the intensity of the symptoms increases, if you do not massage the cervical section twice a year.
Where are the sources of the disease of the century
More than 100 years ago, doctors discovered the connection of pain in the head and neck with inflammatory processes in the spine and called this disease "osteochondrosis". With this diagnosis, complex damage occurs to both the vertebrae, discs, and nerves, blood vessels, veins, passing in the area of inflammation.
By nature, the vertebrae in the cervical region are mobile, and for their healthy functioning a good metabolism is needed. Injuries to the neck, infections, poor posture previously affected the cervical vertebrae, but this was not a mass phenomenon.
Sedentary work contributes to degeneration of the spine, and with the advent of computers in our lives, osteochondrosis has become the "plague" of the 21st century.
What problems is cervical spinal massage struggling with?
In the neck area are the muscles that are responsible for the condition of the shoulders, veins, tendon, vessels of the head. Any damage or inflammation of one of these components. may cause:
• permanent redness of the skin;
• loss of sensitivity in the hands;
• pain in the heart;
• puffiness;
• headaches;
• a sharp jump in pressure;
• noise in the head;
• sudden vomiting and dizziness.
Massage of the cervical-collar zone is often the only "lifeline" in a particular situation with additional medication used for acute pain.
With intensive development of the spines of the neck, pain is reduced by relieving tension from the muscles and releasing intervertebral discs, improving blood circulation, and increasing lymph drainage.
The basic rules of massage of the neck and collar area
Performing any manipulations at home involves creating a sense of comfort in the patient. When massaging the cervical spine, painful techniques are prohibited.
All movements should be pleasant, soft, they are carried out along the path of the lymph without affecting the lymph nodes. Initially, all the techniques are performed on the collar zone and shoulder joints, and then we move on to a direct neck massage.
Let's get acquainted with the main massage techniques
1. Massage of the neck and collar zone begins and ends stroking open palms or elbow edge of both hands. At the same time, the neuromuscular apparatus is strengthened, lymphobrene is improved.
Stroking can be performed both rectilinearly and circularly and in a spiral. Begin reception should be gently at first, followed by enhanced action.
A good result in preparing the body for kneading is also given by forceps-like stroking. Between the thumb and forefinger of both hands grab the muscle, stroke it. Each exercise is performed 15 - 20 times.
2. Trituration promotes better blood supply to each cell, the body temperature rises at the massage site, tissue trophism improves, the skin becomes supple for further study.
Tongue-like grinding is performed in the same way as stroking, but with great effort.
It is more convenient to rub both the neck and the collar zone with a grasping motion. The palms of both hands are placed on the grasped surface so that four fingers are on one side, and the big one on the other is shifted, one hand goes down, the other one goes up and vice versa.
This technique can be completed by straightly rubbing the base of the palm of your hand, folding your fingers in a fist.
3. When kneading we pay special attention to painful areas and seals, trying to work them out more carefully, but without causing acute pain. The intensity of exposure should be increased with each session.
- We begin with a softer effect, with a shift of the muscle roll between the index fingers with the grasping position of both hands. Rotating hands up and down, we move the roller.
- Grip the muscle in a pin-like manner and move along it, flexing each point with the thumb and forefinger.
- Put your fingers 4 to 1, with an emphasis on the thumb. We make deep circular movements with 4 fingers clockwise, 3 times at one point, slowly moving along the entire massaged surface.
4. Mechanical vibrations in tissues caused by vibration, help to reduce pain.
We tap the collar zone with the elbow edge of the hands of both hands or pat with open hands, but on the neck this technique is best done with the "finger shower", during which the fingers quickly, gently tap, simulating raindrops.
The whole complex of exercises is performed sitting with hands under his forehead, or lying on his stomach. The massaged area of the body should be lubricated with any massage cream or vegetable oil for better gliding of the hands.
- We begin the massage of the cervical - collar zone with all the techniques in the interscapular zone.
We perform stroking from the spine to the shoulders, from the bottom up, with open hands, then proceed to stroking with the phalanges of the fingers bent into a fist.
Rubbing begins with intensive movement of the opened palms along the same lines, then we make a “shading”, in which we join four fingers together, put them on pads and try to shade the massaged surface.
We put our hands on the ulnar edge of the palm, which we press one to the other, we begin to move them back and forth, intensively pressing on the skin, we do "sawing."
Finish rubbing superficial stroking.
For kneading, we apply exercise 4 to 1, we deeply work out each part of the body, paying special attention to the area around the shoulder blades.
We finish working on the interscapular region "rollingm ". To do this, we capture the skin roller between the thumb and forefinger at the base of the zone being massaged and roll it. The little finger, ring and middle fingers" run "from the bottom up, moving the gripped area of skin.
We do stroking and light slapping with the whole palm upwards.
- Go to the collar area. A sedentary lifestyle, stoop, constantly lowered head leads to "hardening" of the muscles, which as a result block the vital activity of the veins, blood vessels, tendons. The first sessions should be carried out without much pressure, devoting more time to stroking and rubbing, we perform kneading techniques gently, 3 times.
Mentally draw 3 to 4 parallel lines along the entire zone and perform each step along them.
Massage the neck area do pinch-like and grasping movements, and also reception 4 to 1, from a neck to shoulders.
We finish the massage of this part of the neck with a light study of the shoulder joints, performing 3 times each reception.
- All massage techniques of the cervical spine are performed from top to bottom, starting and ending with stroking them.
When doing kneading, it is advisable to do the herringbone technique. We put the thumbs at a distance of 1 cm from the vertebrae and, pressing, move up, as if drawing Christmas tree branches.
We complete the collar zone massage with a general stroking from the head to the shoulder joints.
Massage of the cervical spine with myositis
Almost every adult person at least once in his life has experienced a sharp, aching, excruciating pain in the neck, when you can neither breathe deeply nor turn your head. Pain syndrome leads to irritability and general weakness.
Myositis occurs as a result of overstressed muscles or from hypothermia and drafts.
Massage of the neck and collar zone in this disease spend twice a day, with a break of 6 - 8 hours.
All techniques are performed on the increasing force of exposure. Stroking the fingertips smoothly goes into the development of the phalanges, and then the whole base of the hand.
Particular “stress” in myositis is given to rubbing, which contributes to the heating of muscles and a faster recovery. You can rub it with both your fingers and the elbow edge of the hand, we apply all the rubbing techniques, not forgetting the sweeping movement.
Kneading with acute pain is done very carefully, gently, increasing the intensity of pressure at each session. We apply all kneading techniques described above.
The warming cream applied during kneading will help reduce the severity of pain and retain heat in the muscles. After massage recommended cover your shoulders with something warm.
Massage of the cervical spine - the "killer" withers
The spherical seal in the region of the last cervical vertebra is popularly called the withers or "widow's hump". There is still no explanation for the appearance of this neoplasm, which is not only a cosmetic defect, because it resembles a hump, but also causes constant headaches, numbness in the neck and hands.
Massage of the cervical - collar zone is one of the effective means to prevent or reduce the growth of the withers.
When dealing with the widow's hump, you should be patient and massage the withers first daily, and then every three days, constantly kneading the seal, while doing the massage of the cervical spine twice - thrice a year.
Massage the withers is performed in a sitting position, relaxing and tilting the head slightly forward and down. A good softening effect during the massage will give the use of a mixture of 1 tsp. propolis tincture on alcohol with 30 ml camphor oil.
To increase the intensity of exposure, we lubricate the area of the 7th vertebra with warming oil, and rub it clockwise from the top to the base.
When performing self-massage of the withers, this technique is most conveniently performed with three fingers, focusing on the thumb, moving from rubbing to kneading.
For a deeper effect on the fat roller, we do pinch massage, in a circle, from the center to the periphery.
We finish the neck massage with stroking and wrapping, at least for half an hour.
Silicone miracle jar perfectly copes with fat deposition on the neck. Vacuum massage promotes a rush of blood and fast splitting of fat.
Why hypertension is “afraid” of neck massage
Suffering from hypertension for many years, some people do not even realize that the cause of chronic disease is osteochondrosis of the cervical spine.
Daily exercises for the neck and first quarterly and then twice a year massage of the collar zone can significantly stabilize and reduce pressure.
Attention! Classical massage of the cervical spine with hypertension is performed from top to bottom.
A prerequisite for performing any type of massage for hypertension is the measurement of pressure before and after the session.
It is strictly forbidden to perform any vibration, this technique is removed in all manipulations.
Massage of the cervical-collar zone with hypertension is guaranteed to not allow the pressure to rise if it is finished with a head massage, which lasts 4-8 minutes.
At the same time, we perform:
• circular stroking;
• rubbing - "hatching" and circular motion 4 to 1;
• kneading - circular pressure and shear;
• vibration - light finger "shower";
• stroking - with open palms, smooth the entire surface of the head.
We make all tricks from the forehead to the back of the head, from the top of the head down in all directions.
Who is forbidden to massage the cervical spine?
- Massage is contraindicated not only with oncological diseases, but also in cases of suspicion of any type of neoplasm. Cancer cells from the rush of blood grow rapidly and lymph flow spread to all organs.
- When infectious pathologies It is forbidden to massage both the cervical and the whole body.
- Massage of the neck and spine cannot be performed with high temperature or hypertensive crisis.
If you have chronic diseases, the recommendations of the attending physician before the course of massage of the cervical spine will be valuable, especially in the case of the procedure at home.
