10 Things You Should AVOID if You Have Neck Cervical Stenosis

Cervical Stenosis is aggravated and made worse by these 10 everyday things. Leaving cervical stenosis to get worse is a bad idea because it progressively pinches the nerves in the neck more over time. If left untreated, cervical spinal stenosis can be debilitating and require invasive neck surgery.

Be aware of what activities you need to plan better for, get help with, or avoid all together.

Most of these activities will be fine to return to doing once you address the underlying root problem of cervical spinal stenosis and get relief from the neck pain and other symptoms it causes.

9 out of 10 cases of cervical stenosis can recover enough to avoid surgery and get back to doing everything they love to do. Even if it’s activities mentioned in this video.

🌟 Get exercises and more advice for Cervical Stenosis from this playlist:
“Neck Stenosis Help”

👉Here are links to the products Dr. David mentioned in this video:

00:00 10 Things You Should Avoid If You Have Painful Neck Cervical Stenosis
00:26 Aggressive Neck Stretching
01:40 Aggressive Shoulder Stretching
02:44 Shoulder Pinching Exercises
04:27 Activities That Jar You
05:55 Sleeping Face Down
07:36 Heavy Lifting
09:00 Holding Your Phone Up To Your Ear
09:57 Carrying A Heavy Bag
10:54 Resting As Treatment
11:50 Blaming It On Age

#elpasomanualphysicaltherapy #drdavidmiddaugh

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DISCLAIMER:
Any information available at this channel is intended for general guidance only and must never be considered a substitute for advice provided by a physician, medical provider or physical therapist. El Paso Manual Physical Therapy will not be liable for any injuries that happened due to performing any exercises or advice on this channel.
Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care professional with questions about your medical condition or to diagnose any conditions.

[OdileHidalgo]

You are completely right! Doctors always blame everything on aging! it's like their easy escape to give real answers. Your channel is awesome, very informative! Thank you!

[nancyesposito]

Great video thank you. Do you have a video on exercises to strengthen the muscles that support the cervical spine to help with stenosis?

[Achala]

FINALLY someone with common sense and good advice THANKYOU!

[KennethWessel]

I've been diagnosed with moderate to severe cervical stenosis. Everytime I have gone to physical therapy the made me do the rubber band shoulder pinching exercise. This was highly inflammatory and I would have to quit. Thanks for setting the record straight.

[JillDuffield-vh]

Wow!! All of these exercises were ones my PT was having me do until I couldn’t get through it without pain…the rest of my PT was hands on.(traction, massage, needling, pressure point). Lord, I pray to God above that I a cleared for surgery at the Cleveland Clinic next Thursday. Cervical stenosis is excruciating!

[JillyBean]

These days you truly have the advocate for yourself!!! My family doctor was sent a copy of my Xray from my chiropractor. It is degenerative Disc Disease with severe stenosis. My doctor seen the Xray and said it looked like arthritis and sent over an order for PT!!! Thak GOD my chiropractor listened to me and and pushed for an MRI! MRI showed Severe Stenosis from bone growth and calcification. I have been referred to a neurosurgeon this Thursday. My pain level is maxed out. Nothing takes the edge off and it is now excruciating. I’m praying I am cleared for surgery for this to be fixed. I know nerve pain when I feel it.
Thank you all for sharing your experiences. Love and prayers.

[RuthannAshe-flzn]

Thank you so much for your info, I am in pain constantly ❤

[vickykorol]

I love #10 and you are so right!! I am a mostly healthy 62 yo female and was just diagnosed with cervical stenosis. It is compressing my nerve that leads to my left hand causing numbness when I lean on my forearm in certain places. Your video offers great advice and help. Thank you!

[efraincazares]

I quit the PT for my neck. They were telling me to do everything you were showing here. I felt constant pain the next week after one visit. After that first visit, I called and cancelled the rest of my visits.

[purplemicrodot]

I've been to physical therapy twice at two different clinics for cervical stenosis. They destroyed me every time I went. My neck and shoulder muscles would literally freeze up for days after each session and recovery time was a week between sessions (they wanted me there 3x/week). The pain they created was incredible. I kept telling them their treatment was too aggressive and was absolutely making things much worse and they just kept insisting that their treatment was necessary and I needed to come more often until I quit. Symptoms improved dramatically after quitting. I required an injection that allowed me to continue light exercises on my own. Very few problems since. Complete BS.

[nancybrennan]

You’re right on every point. And lying down is the worst thing .

[trigsoleil]

I hate always hearing doctors tell me everything wrong with me is due to getting older. It’s like they’re trying to make me feel helpless to feel better.

[kimberlie]

Wow! Now I know why I felt deathly ill when I went camping this summer. I had to travel down a gravel road for 2 hours and I seriously had the worst headache of my life and thought my son would have to drop me off at the hospital on the way home! It was all I could do not to cry like a baby the whole way back. Thanks for the informative video, I was doing all kinds of wrong things with the stretches too. I thought I was helping the problem but was making it worse. So my two favorite sports were biking and weight lifting and I was also a stomach sleeper, I guess I wrecked my neck beyond repair. I had a scan after I went to ER for severe pain and was sent home and told nothing was wrong. I read the report myself a month later and it said I had SEVERE stenosis, ddd, bone spurs, scoliosis and a fractured 4th rib. I didn't realize I broke my rib the night before the ER trip (I feel stupid I broke it stretching too hard, felt something kinda pop) and was utterly shocked they didn't tell me!

[susanberdan]

So right this is me in a nut shell, I'm in pain most of the time. My friend was in her late 20's and had bad pain in her back and they kept telling her that it was age related, but it continued worse so she went to the ER, and they told her loose weight it is probably your weight ! So time went on she had 2 young kids and was not able to do much, so they ordered a MRI, well there it is a tumor in her back of the neck and it was too late she did not last more than 3 months. Her kids were in foster care and separated which was heart breaking. So thank you this kind of thing has happened more than once. God Bless.

[meronabebe]

God bless you, thank you so much that you have given the right instruction

[elizabethryan]

You are so great at what you do. So factual and informative. Thank you

[Rylhz]

bingo.. 20yrs of riding BMX, 15yrs of accumulative damage after my initial injury. caused me incredible pain for the last 4-5yrs of my 'career'. It was heartbreaking being told I couldn't ride bmx every again. I tried a 15minute session after 2yrs of hanging it up the other day, and that 15minutes messed me I really really 100% cannot ride bikes anymore., it causes me way too much discomfort and inflamation. these videos are spot on.

[buelan.]

I so appreciate your expertise and your excellent teaching videos. I honestly believe you are the crème de La crème on and off the internet. Thank you, you’ve improved my life.

[purrfectstormz]

This is so helpful, I am 52 with several bulging discs in my cervical and lumbar spine. I had a discectomy in my L4 L5 at age 21 and have struggled with back pain my entire life. My medical care has consisted of pain pills and going to physical therapy once every few years for 3-6 visits where they were restricted to treating only only one issue at atime instead giving me a wholistic plan to live a productive life with these issues. For example oftentimes my right arm and hand are going numb from nerve impingement and my lower back pain is really bad with sciatica and muscle pain. My doctor can only write a prescription for up to 6 visits of physical therapy for one of those issues, lumbar or cervical, because insurance only pays the PT to treat one at a time. Usually exercises for one issue aggravate the other, but I have had a couple of therapists that worked with me taking my whole body into account. I realize that I need to take care of myself if I dont want to be stuck on bedrest for the 2nd half of my life. This is information that is priceless to me, thank you so much!!!

[lisac]

Ive been in PT for 2 years for my cervical and lumbar stenosis, doing Red Cord therapy, stretching, and pilates. I havent had any pain in my neck or back for well over a year and a half. I also ride my bike, and I hike. Riding on smooth asphalt has been perfectly fine, but any off-road mountain biking very BAD. Lol
Im almost 54. Im stronger and more fit than ive ever been. I hope to stay in physical therapy for as long as insurance will allow. I love it.