My Head Feels Too Heavy: The Truth About Neck Instability

Does it feel like it's really hard to support your head? Your neck easily gets stiff or locked and you constantly feel that you want to crack your neck. This is a very typical cervical spine issue and sometimes it can be even a bit scary for the clients. For this reason I wanted to make this video to help you to understand the causes and consequences behind this and as well give you some easy exercises what you can do home to help to alleviate these symptoms.

Let's start with the story of the single client. Let's call her Sara. Sara came to my clinic and her story really struck me. She was around 40 years old working in an office job and she loved the work very much.

There were no injuries or unusual strain in the background but for months she had been struggling with this challenge. It feels like my head is a bowling ball. I can't sit at my computer for even an hour without my neck shaking horribly and I literally have to support my head. Sara's friends had told her that it was just a stress but Sara knew that it was something more.

Sara's words describe the key characteristic of the cervical instability. The feeling of not being able to control the position of the head. It's just not discomfort, it's lack of stability and it can be extremely debilitating affecting everything from work and hobbies to social life and mental well-being. Can you imagine how it would feel that you constantly fear that your head wouldn't stay supported.

To understand what Sara was going through let's discuss what cervical instability actually is. Simply put it means that the structures that usually stabilize your neck and ligaments and muscles and the joints aren't doing their job effectively. The bones in your neck, the cervical vertebrae aren't as tightly connected to each other as they should be. Think of it like a stack of blocks.

Normally when they are securely in place but with instability the movement between the blocks is too great. This excessive movement can irritate the nerves, compress the blood vessels and strain the surrounding muscles. This was what Sara was experiencing. The bowling ball sensation was due to overstrained neck muscles and desperately trying to compensate for the lack of stability.

The shaking was her body's way to saying that something is not just right. I know that you might be thinking okay that sounds awful but how do I know that I have a cervical instability? Isn't the neck pain just a neck pain? That's a great question and we're going to dive into that next.

Let's break down some typical signs and symptoms of an unstable cervical spine that I've heard in client stories like Sara's. We'll start with the subjective symptoms, what you actually feel. Number one, reduced tolerance of the prolonged static postures. Do you remember Sara's difficulty sitting at her computer?

This is a hallmark symptom. You might notice that it's extremely hard to stay in one position for long, whether it's sitting, standing or even lying down. Why? Because of those unstable neck structures tire quickly and your muscles have to work harder to compensate.

Number two, fatigue and inability to keep the head up. This is the heavy head feeling which of the verses as the day goes on. It's just not the tiredness, it's really struggle to keep the weight of the head supported. Imagine constant effort, it's exhausting.

Number three, the symptoms relief with external support. Think about that you do when your neck feels tired. Do you cradle your chin to your hands, prop your head against the wall or do you ever try to wear in the neck collar? If these things provide temporary relief, it's a clue.

Number four, frequent self-manipulation. This is the constant urge to crack to your neck. It might provide the fleeting sense of relief but this relief is short-lived and it urgely returns quickly. It's a sign that your neck is seeking for the stability and it cannot find it on its own.

Finally, number five, the feeling of instability, shaking or lack of control. This is the most telling symptoms, that wobbly, trembling sensations with the feeling that your neck is giving away. It can be extremely unsettling and can trigger anxiety. It's important to remember that everyone experiences these symptoms differently.

You might have all five symptoms or just a few, but intensity can vary as well. But the combination of these symptoms, especially feeling of the instability, is what sets the cervical instability apart from the typical neck pain. I know this might sound alarming if you recognize yourself in these descriptions, but knowledge is power. Understanding what is happening in your body is the first step towards finding the solution and that's exactly what we're going to talk next.

But before we do, let me ask you, which of these symptoms resonates most strongly with you? Put it down below please. Now we've gone over what you feel, but as a physiotherapist, I also look for objective signs, things that I can observe and assess during the physical examination. Number one, poor coordination or neuromuscular control.

This means that the muscles in your neck aren't working together smoothly and efficiently. There might be delays in the muscle activation or some muscle overcompensate for the others. This can manifest as jerky movement or difficulty with the fine motor control of the neck. Number two, abnormal joint play.

This is something what I assess with my hands. It refers to the small subtle movements that occur between the vertebrae. In instability, these movements might feel too excessive or feel loose. Number three, motion is not smooth.

Instead of fluid controlled neck movements, there might be hinging, pivoting or fulcrum effect, where the movement is concentrated at one point. It's like a door swinging unevenly on its hinges. Number four, aberrant movement. This refers to unnatural and compensatory movements.

For example, you might use your shoulder muscles too excessively to stabilize your neck, leading to the tension and pain in those areas as well. And number five, hypomobility of the upper thoracic spine. This means that the stiffness in the upper back, it might be unrelated, but the upper back provides foundation for your neck. And if it's really stiff, it can contribute to the instability in higher up.

It's important to emphasize here and research confirms that there is no one single definitive test for cervical instability. Diagnosis requires careful consideration of your symptoms, fruitful physical examination and sometimes imagine studies like x-rays and MRIs. These are typically used when you want to rule out more severe factors behind the symptom. So if you are experiencing these symptoms, both subjective and objective, what does it mean?

And what should you do? Now let's address that next. For Sara and for many other cervical instability clients, the road to recovery involves multifaceted approach. There is not quick fix, but it's possible to regain stability of the neck and improve quality of life.

In physiotherapy, we focus heavily on strengthening the deep neck muscles. These are the small muscles that provide the essential support for the cervical spine. And here is a great exercise for those muscles at the front of the cervical spine, the longus colli and the longus capitis. Their job is to keep your chin down in upright position and these muscles are often very weak.

When you're lying on your back, press your chin down towards your chest and hold it for a few seconds. If it feels heavy, try holding for five seconds at a time. Put some good music on the background and keep pumping your chin down. At the same time, you might feel mild stretch around the neck area.

Once this starts to working, try doing same from the edge of the bed or sofa. Support your head with the both hands and move over the edge and keep your chin down for a few seconds. After this, support your head with your hands, take a short break and then continue holding the position. When this is working, you can try pumping your head forward and backwards using the same idea, but the most important thing is to keep your chin down at the chest.

This activates these very important front muscles and they are extremely crucial to get symptoms less. You can do also same movement for the sides of your neck. Keep your chin down and once it works, you can add slight side to side tilt. If you're experiencing strong resting pain after the exercise or noticed the pain worsening, your progression might, the exercises might be too intense.

If your neck control is weak and it needs practice, using the cheap laser designed for playing with the pets is a good idea. Position it so it points in the same direction as your nose. Set the target slightly below the eye level and when you start drawing your signature, solving the mazes or making shapes with the laser, then the muscles in the front are working. You should feel a slight stretch in the back and the control should start improving in the cervical spine.

Again, having good music playing in the background makes the workout a little more enjoyable. Even through the training is crucial for these issues, it's still a good idea to examine the tight structures in the back with your fingers and figure out which ones are causing the most tension. Once you clear the tightness from these structures, the muscle metabolism works better and it helps with the ischemic pain. Pain caused by lack of oxygen.

If this ischemic pain mechanism sounds foreign to you, check out the video in the description. There you are going to find a very informative video about the topic and if you need the tips how to stretch the structures in the neck, be sure to watch this video next.