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Home » Articles » Neck And Shoulder Pain » Cervical Herniated Disc Exercises (Applies to Bulging Discs Too)

Cervical Herniated Disc Exercises (Applies to Bulging Discs Too)

By: Dr. Michael Parkin, DC and Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES) and Dr. David Oliver, DC, Last Updated: July 20, 2022, Reviewed By: Dr. David Oliver, DC

Cervical Herniated Disc Exercises

A herniated cervical disc occurs when one of the discs in the neck protrudes on a nearby nerve and causes pain.[1] In this article we’ll discuss this condition and give you specific exercises that you can do at home to alleviate your pain.

Table Of Contents:
What Is a Cervical Herniated Disc?
Symptoms of Herniated Cervical Discs
Causes of Cervical Herniated Disc
6 Cervical Herniated Disc Exercises

 

So, What Is a Cervical Herniated Disc?

A Herniated cervical disc is when the inner material (aka nucleus pulposus) from one of the discs in the neck protrudes or makes it way out of the disc’s outer protective layer (aka annulus fibrosus) and pinches on the nerves in the neck – This can cause painful symptoms (but not always). The most common levels of cervical disk herniation are C5-6 and C6-7.[1]

* Please note, not all herniated discs cause pain so you want to get a proper diagnosis.[2]

The following image is a very simplified illustration of this:

Cervical Herniated Disc Image

 

Symptoms of Cervical herniated disc (How do you know you have it)

    • Pinched nerve in the neck (aka Cervical radiculopathy)

– (Medically known as Cervical Radiculopathy) causing radiating pain down the arm/s, hand, shoulder, shoulder blade, chest or sensory changes including burning, tingling, numbness, pins or needles down the arm(s).[2]

  • Neck pain, Spasms, or Stiffness. This will typically result in difficulty or inability of the patient to move his or her neck in one motion or the other (this is wordy) such as turning the head, side bending, or extension/flexion).[1][2]
  • Muscle weakness or paralysis (medically known as Cervical Myelopathy) – If the protruding disc progresses and applies enough pressure, it can lead to severe weakening of muscles or inability to use the muscles properly. This is an indication of a more serious problem and should be evaluated by a doctor ASAP.[2]

 

 

Common Causes of Cervical herniated disc Include:

    • Poor Posture/Posture Dysfunctions – Usually this means Kyphotic posture which is defined by rounded shoulders and a forward head position – aka text neck.

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  • Trauma – This can occur when a person sustains a high impact force to the spine.[2] Activities typically include: contact sports, work injuries, and repetitive trauma. This high impact for can cause a “rip” or “tear” in the outer fibers of the disc that can cause a sudden herniation.

Treatment of a herniated disc Include:

Research shows that conservative treatment can be very effective in resolving symptoms.[1][2][3][4]

  • Manual therapy Spinal manipulation, mobilization, and massage.
  • Exercise therapy and Posture re-education- working on correcting posture and postural strength is generally the first line approach in that it can tackle one of the possible root causes of the pain. It can provide good results with minimal investment (See exercises below)..
  • Traction – This can decompress the spine and can provide relief.
  • Ice Therapy/Heat Therapy. Usually in the beginning ice therapy is recommended to reduce inflammation.

In this article we’ll focus on some of the exercises and stretches you can do at home.

Please be careful, if any of these exercises cause more pain, stop, and try a different exercise/approach. Pain and/or numbness into your arm are more worrisome so if you experience any increase in these symptoms, stop, and do not perform that exercise.

The goal with all of these exercises is to cause “centralization” of the symptoms.[4] This means that when you do any of these exercises – you want your symptoms to come back/feel closer to the spine (center), rather in than in your shoulder/arm/hand. This will signal that it may be working for you.

 

5 Cervical Herniated Disc Exercises

1. Chin Tucks

chin tucks exercise

This exercise will activate and strengthen your deep cervical muscles (front of the neck muscles).

  • Place 2 fingers at the bottom of your chin.
  • Gently tuck your chin in and retract your head backwards. At the same time, use your fingers to keep the chin tucked in the entire time.
  • Hold the end position for 3 to 5 seconds.
  • Relax your neck for a moment (Let the neck come fwd).
  • Aim for 2 to 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

** You should feel like the back of your neck is lengthening or “pulling up”, and there will be packing in front of your neck.

2. Neck Extensions (Supported with towel)

Neck Extensions with Towel
This stretch can release some of the pain symptoms and push the disc material back into place. If this stretch causes more pain, move on to the next one.

How to do it:
– Sit at the back of a chair with an upright posture while holding a towel wrapped around your neck
– Now stretch your spine up and over the back of your chair.
– Keep tension in the towel, to support your neck.
– Do 5-10 Extensions

3. One Arm Pec Stretch – At A Wall (Do Both Sides)

One Arm Stretch

This will stretch out the chest area which can be tight and pull the neck into a bad posture. Releasing the pecs will allow you to be in a better posture and can alleviate some of the pain.

  • Come close to a wall and stretch one arm behind you with the palm on the wall.
  • Pull in your stomach (do not arch your back)
  • Now lean forward and slightly away from the extended arm.
  • Feel the stretch in your chest area.
  • Hold for 30 seconds.
  • Repeat on the other side

* Make sure you’re not just stretching you shoulder, but also the chest. Tweak the angle of your position to get the chest muscles.

4. Upper Trapezius Stretch

Upper trapezius and Scalene Stretch

This will stretch out the neck and upper back muscles (Scalene & Upper Trapezius) which can get very tight on individuals with this forward neck syndrome.

  • Start either in a standing or seated position.
  • Place one of your hands on the opposite side of your head and tuck the other hand behind your back.
  • Now bring the head down towards your shoulder.
  • Use the hand on top to press your head down – to get a deeper stretch (Not too hard).
  • Hold for 20-30 seconds and do both sides

#5. Scapular Retraction (Using Resistance Bands)

Pull Apart
This exercise is meant to stabilize and strengthen the muscles in the mid-back which will allow your posture to improve.

How to Do It:

  • Begin standing with a good posture
  • Holding a resistance band (level of resistance you use depends on your individual strength level) with both hands, straighten your elbows and bring your arms out in front of you.
  • While keeping your elbows locked, slowly move your arms out and back behind your body. You should feel the muscles between your shoulder blades contracting/squeezing.
  • Only go out as far as comfortable. Some muscular discomfort (burning) is ok, but pain in the arms or neck is not.
  • Avoid shrugging your shoulders toward your ears.
  • Repeat 2×10, gradually increasing to 3×10.
  • By the time you get to repetition number 8, 9, 10, this should be challenging. If it is not, increase the level of resistance on the band.

What about Over-the-Door Cervical Traction?

Dr. Oliver’s Thoughts on Over-the-Door Cervical Traction: It places a lot of stress on the jaw which can create a TMJ disorder. You may get temporary relief from it but no real long term gains worth injuring the TMJ. So I don’t recommend it.

Lastly, Fix Your Ergonomics

If you don’t fix your upper back posture and daily habits, you condition may not improve, and could even get worse. Check out this article to learn the 10 steps to a proper sitting posture.

Recommended Program:
The Complete Posture Fix (With Dr. Oliver, DC)
Correct your Posture and Ergonomics, Ease Back & Neck pain and Increase your mobility.
Learn More
The Complete Posture Fix

Sources:[1] Constantoyannis C, Konstantinou D, Kourtopoulos H, Papadakis N. Intermittent cervical traction for cervical radiculopathy caused by large-volume herniated disks. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2002;25(3):188-192. doi:10.1067/mmt.2001.123356

[2] Ellenberg M, Honet J, Treanor W. Cervical radiculopathy. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1994;75(3):342-352. doi:10.1016/0003-9993(94)90040-x

[3] Saal J, Saal J, Yurth E. Nonoperative Management of Herniated Cervical Intervertebral Disc With Radiculopathy.. Spine. 1996;21(16):1877-1883. doi:10.1097/00007632-199608150-00008

[4] Young I, Michener L, Cleland J, Aguilera A, Snyder A. Manual Therapy, Exercise, and Traction for Patients With Cervical Radiculopathy: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Phys Ther. 2009;89(7):632-642. doi:10.2522/ptj.20080283

Dr. Michael Parkin, DC
Dr. Michael Parkin, DC( Chiropractor )

Michael is UK registered chiropractor who holds a masters in chiropractic. He has worked with with patients, athletes and celebrities. He is passionate about strength and conditioning, rehabilitation, corrective exercises, injury prevention and all things movement based.

Co Authors :

Leon Turetsky CEO of Back Intelligence
Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES)

Corrective Exercise Specialist (NASM-CES), Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT), Professional Dancer

As a long time back sufferer Leon found unique methods to alleviate his pain using natural methods including self massage, exercise/stretching and postural habits. He founded Backintelligence.com to empower others to fix their postures and ease their back pain from home.

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Dr David Oliver, DC
Dr. David Oliver, DC

Dr. Oliver has been practicing in Massachusetts since 2007. He is a graduate of Marist College where he received a Pre-Med Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. Dr. Oliver then went on to pursue his chiropractic career by attending Palmer College of Chiropractic West, where he graduated Cum Laude. Dr. Oliver has his diploma in rehabilitation, which allows him to combine rehab and corrective exercise with traditional chiropractic treatment. This gives his patients better long term results.

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Filed Under: Neck And Shoulder Pain

Comments

  1. Caprice FosterCaprice Foster says

    November 29, 2019 at 6:02 pm

    I think I have a repetitive injury to the top of the shoulder, trapezius, maybe the deeper muscles too. Swollen and very tender. Sharp fiery stabbing pain. Came on rather suddenly and got worse as time progressed. Some movements are excruciating. One diagnosis is facet syndrome, but I feel like it is a soft tissue injury. I do not have a headache, pain remains relatively local. Ice, heat, and tens give a little temporary relief. I’m on the 4th day. Any thoughts?

    • Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES)Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES) says

      December 13, 2019 at 7:43 pm

      My recommendation is to do Ice and Self massage for a while for soft-tissue pain.

  2. RamRam says

    November 23, 2019 at 2:37 am

    I have bulging desk and I had very strong pain sciatic nerve since 1 month when I left something heavy now the sciatic nerve pain reduced to 80% almost no more on my right legs. Now the pain back more to the desk.
    Is that means am heading ???

    • Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES)Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES) says

      November 26, 2019 at 3:43 pm

      Yes it may be healing. Many people have bulging discs that get better.

  3. MariaMaria says

    November 17, 2019 at 11:55 pm

    When I press and push upward on my occiptal region I get great relief. Are there any therapies that involve those areas of the head ?

    • Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES)Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES) says

      November 18, 2019 at 11:35 pm

      Yes you can certainly use a massage ball on the occipital region.

  4. BHAVIKA EKNATH CHINTAMANIBHAVIKA EKNATH CHINTAMANI says

    October 19, 2019 at 2:40 am

    Plz suggest me exercise to deal protrution with cervical problem

    • Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES)Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES) says

      October 22, 2019 at 4:20 pm

      We have an article on correcting forward head posture: https://backintelligence.com/how-to-fix-forward-head-posture/

  5. Louise WilliamsLouise Williams says

    September 26, 2019 at 2:57 am

    How many times a day should I do the above exercises for relief of pain? Thank you.

    • Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES)Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES) says

      October 11, 2019 at 8:36 pm

      If it helps you can do it once a day or several times a day. As long as it doesn’t cause pain.

      • Louise WilliamsLouise Williams says

        October 12, 2019 at 3:44 am

        Thank you! And yes, these exercises do help. 🙂

  6. Cha ChaCha Cha says

    September 10, 2019 at 4:06 pm

    sleeping positions needed for bulged disc C4, C5,C6, &C7

    • Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES)Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES) says

      September 10, 2019 at 8:21 pm

      The key is to sleep in neutral alignment. You want to support your neck but not have the head protrude fwd. Sleeping on Back and Side is best. We have this article about sleeping positions: https://backintelligence.com/how-to-sleep-with-lower-back-pain/

  7. Crystal McCordCrystal McCord says

    July 21, 2019 at 12:55 am

    I would appreciate any medical advice/ treatment options (non-surgical), sleeping/sitting positions that you can send me on relieving the pains associated with a C3-C4 herniated/ bulging disc, including pains in the neck, shoulders, arms, and numbness in both hands and feet. I want to Thank You in advance for any future information you can send me.

    • Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES)Leon Turetsky (NASM-CPT, NASM-CES) says

      July 23, 2019 at 7:32 pm

      Te exercises mentioned in this article are ones we recommend you try and see if it helps.

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