Torticollis is a contraction of all the muscles of the neck and may be caused by a sudden movement or a cold draft – especially when the muscle is relaxed or heated. We spoke with Dr. Lara Castagnetti, Osteopath and Specialist in Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine at Humanitas on the show “Life-Goal Well-Being”, on Rai Uno.
“The muscle is relaxed, especially after sports or by being in a warm environment. When the muscle receives a direct flow of cold air, it retracts to defend itself and becomes stiff. The neck then freezes in a position that tends to have a lateral tilt, resulting in the difficulty of movements“, explains Dr. Castagnetti.
When to seek medical attention?
“This contraction can also hide other serious problems, such as disk disease, and so the suggestion is to assess the situation. If the torticollis is gradually stirred up, lasting only a few days without irradiation to the limbs, do not worry. If the pain persists for several weeks, with radiation to the limbs and tingling, you should seek medical attention to run some tests”.
The importance of adopting a correct posture
“Poor posture as well as anxiety greatly affect the health of our neck, cervical spine and shoulders, causing the accumulation of a lot of tension,” says the doctor.
It is very common, especially for those working in an office to put pressure on the neck and shoulders with harmful positions. Here are some tips: “The PC keyboard should be at a specific distance from the body, so the forearms remain resting on the table to avoid contracting the muscles of the neck and shoulders and the upper edge of the screen should stay at the height of our eyes”, says the doctor.
Stretching Exercises
“In addition to adopting the correct position of the spine, it can be very useful to perform some exercises every day after standing still for a couple of hours. You can benefit from lateral flexion of the head. Hold this position for a few seconds, rotate and flex your head back and forth”, suggests Dr. Castagnetti.
