The Importance Of Gentle Movement Following Neck Surgery

The most common form of neck surgery is spinal fusion. In this process, two vertebrae are fused together by means of a bone graft. There are a variety of reasons for a spinal fusion neck surgery, from herniated discs to spondylolisthesis (painful and unusual slippage of the vertebrae) to spinal infection. Regardless of the cause for the neck surgery, however, they all share one feature, at least: the patient should participate in gentle exercise after the surgery in order to help speed recovery.

The key word here is gentle. Strenuous exercise will be even more harmful than no exercise at all. But some motion is essential to keep muscles from freezing up. Never, ever, *ever* exercise until it hurts. And don't just jump into exercise willy-nilly, either. You need a plan that will allow you to start small, perhaps with nothing more than walking around several times a day to begin with, then increase the exercise as your body can bear it until you work yourself up to the kind of gentle, flexing exercise that will keep your nerves functioning properly and keep your muscles in optimum health.

Before the surgery, ask your doctor what kind of exercises he recommends, on a day by day basics, for at least the first couple of weeks after a surgery. Or, he may be able to point you to resources for gentle exercises that would be appropriate for the first few weeks after surgery. You should also ask him for a comprehensive list of things you shouldn't do after your surgery. This may include things like bending and twisting. Remember not to be too vigorous. Your body is healing, and while some movement is essential to ensure that it heals properly, too much movement, or movement that is too strenuous, may keep it from healing at all. Let your doctor help you find a balance between the two.

In either case, once your doctor has made recommendations, your mission is to follow them. Exercises must be *done* to make them effective, and you are the only person who can do your exercises for you. Good advice can only do so much; the rest of it will be up to you. If you're one of these people who hear the word "exercise" and immediately blank out, take heart! Most of your after-surgery movement will be nothing more than that; gentle movement. Muscles left unused tend to become unusable, and you don't want that to happen. So decide for yourself, before you ever have the surgery, that you'll get suggestions from your doctor, and follow them to the letter after the surgery. That's the best thing you can do.