Were you aware that the pain in your neck could be caused by arthritis? Arthritis is an inflammatory condition that affects the joints, and it can develop in the facet joints of the cervical spine or neck. These joints are found at the back of each neck vertebrae. When facet joints wear out naturally over time, you have a condition called neck osteoarthritis.
Physical therapists often prescribe a program of exercises for neck arthritis. Such exercises can help strengthen neck muscles, which helps reduce pressure on arthritic facet joints. Beneficial therapy exercises can also help improve neck mobility and reduce pain. However, there are also some exercises you should avoid if you have neck arthritis.
Three exercises to avoid if you have neck arthritis
To be clear, avoiding some exercises doesn’t mean avoiding all exercise when you have neck arthritis. As mentioned above, certain therapist-prescribed exercises can benefit your condition. There are certain exercises that could lead to increased neck arthritis pain, and three examples of such exercises are:
- Situps — Core muscle strengthening is the benefit that draws many people to situps. However, this exercise can lead to more neck pain if you have neck arthritis. For instance, many people clasp their hands behind their head or neck to do situps. This posture makes it easy to put too much pressure on arthritic neck joints, which can lead to increased neck pain.
- Bridges — This exercise is wonderful for strengthening your core and glutes, but it’s not so good for your neck. Bridges are done with your shoulders and neck resting on the ground while raising your lower torso off the ground. This position places a lot of strain on the shoulders and neck, which can cause more pain in your neck.
- Lat pull-downs — A common back exercise, lat pull-downs should be avoided by people with neck arthritis. People with poor posture should be especially wary of this exercise. Often, lat pull-downs are done behind the neck, and this means you must bend your neck forward repeatedly. Repeated forward bending can aggravate neck arthritis and increase your pain.
Find out the best exercises for your neck arthritis at Border Therapy Services
Are you looking for effective physical therapy exercises for neck arthritis? Our Border Therapy Services team can help you find them and so much more. We offer free screenings, and this service is designed to help us learn as much as possible about your condition and symptoms. We’ll then use this information to build you a personalized therapy plan, which could include therapy methods like:
- Therapeutic exercises
- Manual therapy
- Spine care and stabilization
- Aquatic therapy
- Functional dry needling
Take the next step to start getting our help with your arthritis. Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.
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