Modern children move much less than their peers 15-20 years ago. Education at school is associated with a long static position of the body in a sitting position, at home the child continues to sit - at the computer or in front of the TV. Few people prefer playing on the street to an exciting video game. The cervical spine suffers most from this lifestyle. In this material, we will tell you how to properly massage the neck and collar zone for a child, what problems it allows you to cope with.
Why is this necessary?
At school and preschool age, the load on the neck is great. As a result of prolonged sitting, and not always in the correct posture, the child's neck "becomes numb", memory is impaired, the ability to learn decreases, and unpleasant symptoms appear. Neck massage helps relieve headache attacks and relieve the child from dizziness. It restores blood circulation in the brain, relieves back pain.
The child's complaints of fatigue should not be regarded as a sign of his laziness, it is quite possible that these are the first symptoms of disorders in the cervical spine. Massaging the cervical area relaxes the muscles that hold the vertebrae in the correct position. The vertebrae gradually take up the correct position.
Neck massage is beneficial for the health of the heart, lungs, endocrine system. An accurate and correct massage improves blood circulation and the transmission of nerve impulses to the areas of the cerebral cortex responsible for vision and hearing.
Neck massage for babies is useful for the development of the muscles of the back, neck, shoulder groups. It strengthens the central nervous system, allows the baby to quickly master new motor skills, relieves hypertension. Massaging the cervical-collar zone is also useful for babies from one and a half years old, especially those who have difficulties with communication and speech - the sessions help to stimulate the speech centers with an established RAD (delayed speech development).
The indications for this type of massage are osteochondrosis, increased physical activity, back pain, scoliosis and neurasthenia.
Massaging technique
Perform baby massage of the cervical and collar zones carefully, strictly following the rules and techniques of such exposure. There are different massage techniques for different age groups of children. Let's talk about them in more detail.
Babies
The mother should lay the baby on a flat, hard surface on the tummy. The baby's feet should point towards the mother. If the child is still very young, he is not more than two months old, it is possible to massage the neck only in the supine position with one hand, the second mother should support the legs of the little one. The massage itself for crumbs up to two months of age should be limited only to superficial strokes.
The methods of children's massage are classic, there is nothing exotic or overly complicated in them. Begin the session by stroking the neck and shoulders, do it with gentle circular and arcuate movements, without pressure. At the second stage, you can slightly increase the pressure and rub the neck and shoulders of the crumbs with your palms. The next step is kneading. It improves blood circulation in deep muscle fibers. Finish the massage with light tapping movements with your fingertips.
When moving your hands from head to back, try to touch with your palms, and when moving upward in the opposite direction, try to touch with the back of your palms. When rubbing, you can "write out" any geometric shapes with your fingertips, the main thing is that the movements have one direction - from the head to the back, and not vice versa.
When kneading, you can use pinching techniques, only you need to very carefully monitor the behavior and well-being of the child. If the little one starts crying or worrying, reduce the intensity and strength of the impact, if this does not help, stop the massage and return to it when the child is in good spirits.
Massage with warm hands only. Cold touching will be unpleasant for the child. Use massage oil or cream, this will make it easier to slide your hands when performing techniques and protect the baby's delicate skin from microtrauma. Finish the session with gentle strokes.
Neck massage for a baby should last no longer than 10 minutes. Start with 2-3 minutes and gradually work up to the specified time. Avoid pressure and rubbing around the vertebrae.
Pupils and preschoolers
It is important to place the child correctly in space. You can massage a lying child, which stretches your arms along the body, you can massage in a sitting position. You should not choose chairs with backs for the second option, they will not ensure the correct location of muscle groups in the neck-collar zone. Better to use a stool.
In front of a sitting child, there should be a table of such a height that the child can rest his head on it while sitting. Place a small pillow under your head. If there is no stool, use a high-backed chair with the child facing the back. Then he will be able to put his hands and head on it, giving the masseur enough scope for action.
Massage techniques, as in the case of babies, are classic and are performed according to the same scheme: stroking, rubbing, kneading and vibration. It is important to avoid massaging the vertebrae directly, and all movements should be performed strictly from top to bottom - from the hair growth zone to the shoulders. Try not to grab the shoulder blade area.
The directions of movement are as follows: from the edge of hair growth along the spine downward, in an arc to the shoulders, shoulder muscles, shoulder joints. It is rather difficult to convince a preschooler to completely relax, and therefore it is better for children under 7 years old to do massage in a prone position. From 8-10 years old, it is quite possible to conduct sessions in a sitting position.
In the first stage, stroking should be performed with fingers and palm, moving from the head down and from the head to the shoulders. Rubbing is performed with hands clenched into fists. Kneading should be done with your fingers, gently grasping the muscles of the collar zone. Vibration tapping at the final stage of the massage session is complemented by a slight "shaking" of the captured muscle. Avoid going from stage to stage too quickly - “cold” muscles are easily injured.
The duration of a treatment session for a child of preschool and school age is 15-25 minutes. The most painful part of the session is kneading. If the child already has a spinal disorder, the neck muscles can be very tense. In this case, you need to focus on the individual reaction - if it hurts, you should reduce the strength of the impact.
If the muscle is stiff, go back a little and do the rubbing and warming step again. Gradually, the muscles will become softer, the regularity of exposure will help relieve tone and improve blood circulation.
Contraindications
Massage of the cervical zone is contraindicated if the child has tumors and neoplasms, there are wounds or abrasions on the neck. This type of massage is also contraindicated for children with heart disease.
If a child in the acute stage has any diseases, especially those associated with fever, the session should be canceled until he recovers. Teenage girls are not given collar massage during menstruation.
Do not massage the collar zone for children with disorders of the central nervous system. With cerebral palsy, exceptions are made, but massage has a number of specific features that are difficult for a non-professional to master at home.
Neck and collar massage is strictly prohibited for children with tuberculosis and HIV infection.
Useful Tips
For all the seeming simplicity of neck massage techniques, parents who have never learned it can make a mistake, and this mistake can cost the baby dearly. Therefore, it will not be superfluous to visit a massage room in a polyclinic or a private clinic with the child at least 1 time, or call a masseur at home. This will be enough to see how the professionals act. Feel free to ask a specialist what, why, why and how they do it. After that, taking into account the technique described above, you can safely proceed to self-massage.
Self-healing massage is prohibited only in exceptional cases, for example, with short neck syndrome in an infant, with damage to the vertebrae in the cervical spine as a result of trauma or congenital disease. Such massage should be performed by a specialist, the course of treatment should be monitored by a neurologist.
Before an independent massage, a mother or another adult who is going to conduct such sessions for a child should watch at least one video course that will help to visualize the features of the technique of techniques.
The technique for performing neck and collar massage for a child can be viewed in the following video.
