Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group anyone having trouble looking down .......

at their stomach?

can't quite get there because of the neck?

what do you do for exercises other than the obvious LOOKING DOWN TOWARDS THE FLOOR?

man this sh*t is never ending!!!!!

I just finished a 7 week therapy 3x week (education) at Physical Therapy. I left there with a list of 56 exercises. Sooooooooooooooooooooooo if you go to a PT they can find really sore spots in/around your neck and when they push on them it feels like wild fire pain. HOt, extremely uncomfortable, but as they push on this and make you tuck your chin and push into them the pain magically fades away. Something about the lining of the tendons, fascia being released?? I don't know the science behind it.

So you can do this to yourself with a cane. Hold it on your neck with both hands (I had to work just to do this, lol stiff shoulders, sigh...) Anyway, tuck chin, push into painful spot and hold until pain diminishes. Then find another spot. If you're like me, you have several. good times.

Then there's stretching. Think of a clock, move your chin to 6 o' clock etc. and hold for 30-60 seconds. Move to a different time and hold again. Go all the way around the clock. Hold every stretch 30 seconds minimum.

If you can, find a manual physical therapist. Mine was amazing, and didn't want me to be dependent on PT my whole life so taught me how to do it myself with cane etc.

My final advice is to strengthen your neck. They taught me to lie on back, tuck chin and lift head off bed just barely an inch or so. A healthy person can hold this for 3 minutes. Ha! I am barely up to 90 secs. Then you push your head back into the bed/pillow and hold for same amount of time. You can also lie on each side and do the same thing. Strengthen all around your neck. Remember to tuck your chin to your chest.

Hope this helps.
-Donette

PS-if it's inflamed, put ice on it.

Hi Saltire, you might want to ask you doc for a script for PT. I don't have problems looking down, that's pretty much the only direction I can go. Looking up is not an option for me or side to side.
Cindy

I am with Cindy, I look down at about a 45 degree angle, and that is my only option. If you still have movement by all means use it all you can,do the exercises.
J.R.

thanks girls

I thought of one more stretch for the neck.....ear to shoulder on both sides, again hold a minimum of 30 secs.

take care.

I don't have trouble looking down ......side to side used to be a huge problem until I had acupuncture a few times, now I can turn my head........looking up is a real problem.

Sherri

Remember them prison escape sorta movies lie Escape From Alcatraz where the guy in the cell wants to look down the hall for guards and he holds a makeshift mirror out his cell to glance a view of the hall.

Yep that is how I see my stomach. Somwhow the prison part of theanalogy workis for me

just wanted to comment on donette's post (if that is ok with you donette )

i too swore by a manual PT, was in PT for about 2-3 years at the beginning and it helped me, as donette said learn how to do a lot of these things on my own, gave me back not just functionality but independence as well.

and that neck exercise that donette described. i do something similar. not only do i do it in the one direction, but i lay on either side, front, back, and do it in all directions. and instead of holding it which seems to make my muscle spasms worse, i just slowly go up and down, fluid motion vs static holding. but it really does work when the spasms weaken the neck so the most minor activities send it into more spasms. this past fall the upper back, neck, etc got very involved and the neck was getting very weak, but this exercise got me back where i needed to be. in the past, swimming where you have to pick your head out of the water really helped me, so if swimming is an option for you (it no longer is for me), it really is a great exercise.

and thirdly, i know that cane stuff that donette is talking about: trigger point therapy. but for me, pressing just makes my muscles very angry and they go into spasm, no matter how it is done. started off with a really good, really knowledgeable manual PT. she said no worries, for some people it really is too much, but she pulled out the ultrasound and did that to me 2x a week then once a week for months and months and we got to a point where things were getting a lot better. then she sent me to a physiatrist who did a series of triggerpoint injections (a little lidocaine, but really just the physical action of the needle breaking up the scar tissue) and they were nothing short of miraculous. since then (2003) its just been a matter of maintenance for the most part with a few nasty flares. but if the cane (pressing) works, that would be even easier to do on one's own. i did buy an ultrasound machine so i can at least do that from home when i need to. made the purchase with the help and expertise of my PT and physiatrist.

and donette: glad you have had such success with the trigger point therapy!

yep.. i look straight ahead all the time, except when im standing i look at the floor. it SUCKS!!! thanks for the stretching and exercise tips girls, ill try these out.