The whole body of a person, including his neck, is formed from muscles. The main neck muscle also includes the belt muscle of the neck, which our article will be devoted to.
Each muscle is characterized by its own direction of fibers. For those located on the sides, it is oblique, and for the median - longitudinal. All muscles are a kind of mobile stand for the head and play a very important role.
So, the belt is the surface layer of the deep muscles of the person who base the spinal-muscle mass and form three layers (upper, middle and deep). Like others, the belt muscle is well developed. It is large and strong, located in the back of the cervical spine and is paired. Symmetrically contracting, this muscle extends the spine, and with a unilateral contraction, the cervical part unfolds only in one direction. The innervation of the muscle is carried out using the posterior spinal nerves, nourishes its deep cervical and occipital arteries.
Who suffers from muscle pain
The disadvantages of sedentary work are well known to people who, with a long incorrect position of the head, may develop muscle spasm in the neck. Sometimes pain occurs when walking or other overstrain of this area. The result is constricted blood vessels, impaired blood circulation and blood supply to the muscles, which leads to the appearance of edema, pain and hypoxia.
This condition, in turn, can lead not only to the appearance of frequent headaches, but also to nervous disorders. Therefore, if the belt muscle of the neck hurts , it is imperative to take short breaks in the work and pay attention to it.
How to strengthen muscles
All neck muscles are paired, that is, lateral flexion-extension will engage them fully. Due to this feature, the simplest stretching exercises are enough, but before you begin to perform them, you need to decide which way the slope is given easier. For some, this is a backward movement, for others - extension (tilt of the head to the chest). Therefore, exercises should be done in stages, to begin with, we develop extensor muscles and only then, to strengthen them, we begin to perform lateral tilts of the head.
Starting small, but doing this daily and gradually increasing tension in the cervical muscles, we ensure that they are strengthened, including, of course, the neck muscle.
Extension exercises
Standing exercises are performed. With the help of the hands folded on the back of the head, we press on the head and pull the chin to the chest. Keep your back straight. In this exercise, the neck muscle of the neck, as well as the semi-axial, scalene and trapezius muscles of the head, are perfectly involved.
Stretching
Having worked out this muscle group well, you can add a little load and begin to stretch them. In such a training, we make head tilts alternately - to the left, and then to the right.
We accept the starting position:
- The left hand is located on the back of the head.
- We bend forward, and then try to reach our chin to the shoulder.
- Have a rest.
- We change the hand.
The lateral muscles are involved here, but the median ones also work. Such exercises improve blood circulation, relieve excess static stress, thanks to them, the belt muscle of the head and neck is well strengthened.
Bending exercises
Next, proceed to bending and tilting the head back:
- Hands are folded into the lock on the forehead.
- Shoulders down.
- The chin stretches as high as possible.
And in conclusion, we repeat the exercises for stretching the lateral muscles. The basic rule of muscle stretching is that the movement is exactly the opposite of its usual movement. If you experience unpleasant pain in the belt muscle, we use exercises.
To feel it, you need to sit down and tilt your head slightly to the side. By pressing the corner of the neck with your fingers, you can feel how the belt muscle of the neck is tensing. Its functions are responsible for turning, bending and stretching the cervical spine. By pressing her fingers and holding them in this position for a while, you will feel her slow and pleasant relaxation.
Why back muscles hurt
Medical statistics suggest that recurrent pain in the muscles of the back occurs in every third adult person. Most often this is a spasm of the neck, but there are other reasons:
- One of them is cervical sciatica. It occurs when the nerve roots are infringed and is expressed in the form of acute attacks of pain. To prevent this, it is necessary to pay special attention to the formation of muscle corset. It allows you to remove excessive stress from the neck.
- With a sharp turn of the head or improper performance of the exercises, they may stretch, accompanied by unpleasant pain.
- If the neck muscle of the neck is disturbed by prolonged aching pain, and on palpation a thickening is clearly felt and the pain becomes stronger, myositis is evident - inflammation of the cervical muscles.
- There are a number of other more serious diseases in which muscle pain is observed - cardiac ischemia, polymyalgia, ankylosing spondylitis. Therefore, with the appearance of frequent pain in the neck, you should consult a doctor.
take care of yourself
If, nevertheless, a muscle spasm occurs and the pain is strong enough, do not immediately drink analgesics. In most cases, it is enough to take a warm relaxing bath, have a light massage or take a short, relaxing walk.
The neck muscle of the neck plays an important role in the respiratory and swallowing processes, the pronunciation of sounds, so you should pay special attention to it, perform simple exercises daily, monitor posture and allow yourself a short break at work. This is an important part of our body that should be protected.