Effective Exercises for Cervical Spondylitis: A Guide to Neck Pain Relief

One of the most common reasons for neck pain is cervical spondylitis. But don’t worry, today I’ll be sharing some simple yet effective exercises that can help alleviate pain and promote recovery. These exercises have worked wonders for my patients, and I’m confident they can help you too! So, let’s dive in.

5 Best Cervical Spondylitis Exercises- Complete Pain Relief Guide (2025)

Understanding Cervical Spondylitis and its exercises

Cervical spondylitis refers to the wear and tear of the spinal discs in your neck. Over time, this can lead to pain, stiffness, and sometimes even tingling or numbness in your arms. However, with the right approach, you can manage and significantly reduce these symptoms.

Categories of Exercises

Before we start, it’s useful to categorize these exercises into three types:

1. Flexibility Exercises: To decrease neck muscle stiffness.
2. Stretching Exercises: Helps in muscle relaxation.
3. Strengthening Exercises: To build up the weakened muscles due to pain avoidance.

So, let us start with flexibility Exercises.

Flexibility exercises for cervical spondylitis

1. Neck Side Bending

Our first exercise for cervical spondylitis is neck side bending. For this exercise, our starting position will be sitting or standing straight. Here’s the step-by-step process to perform this exercise.

1. Sit straight.
2. Gently tilt your head to the right, trying to touch your right ear to your right shoulder, but don’t lift the shoulder. 
3. Hold this position for 5 seconds and feel the stretch.
4. Now, slowly tilt your head to the left side. Again hold it for a few seconds.
5. Repeat this process of tilting your head alternatively to the left and right side slowly and smoothly.
6. You should aim to do this 15 to 20 times per session. More is better but always listen to your body.

2. Neck Rotation

Next comes the neck rotation. Exercise is very simple yet effective, you just need to rotate your head to either side. Let me explain it with these steps:

1. Your starting position will be the same.ie. sitting straight and relaxed. 
2. In this position, turn your head slowly to the right, looking over your shoulder. 
3. Hold, the position for a few seconds and then return to the centre.
4. Next, turn your head to the left side similarly.
5. Rotate your head to the left and right side slowly and smoothly.
6. Repeat this 15 to 20 times.

3. Neck Backward Bending

Our next neck flexibility exercise is neck backwards bending. You have to be cautious about not doing neck forward bending. You may unknowingly take your neck to forward bending after performing the backward bending exercise.

So, here is the steps:

1. Stand or sit upright.
2. Gently tilt your head backwards. 
3. If bending forward aggravates your condition, strictly avoid it.
4. You should bend in steps, gently increasing the stretch. 

Stretching exercises for neck spondylitis

Stretching exercises are essential to relax the stiff muscles. In cervical spondylitis, due to pain one avoids any kind of movement in the neck. In the long term because of this, the muscle around the neck becomes stiff. 

So, the first stretching exercise is lateral neck stretch. 

4. Lateral Neck Stretch

Lateral neck stretch exercise is targeted to stretch the cervical muscle present on left and right sides of the neck.

1. Your starting position will be sitting or standing straight with shoulders relaxed.
2. Now, to stretch the left side neck muscle, take your right hand and keep it over the left temple area just above the ear. 
3. Gently pull your head towards the right, stretching the muscles on the left side of your neck. Hold for 30 seconds to a minute.
4. Repeat on the left side, stretching the right neck muscles.
5. Perform this 3-4 times on each side.

5. Cross-Arm Shoulder Stretch

Because of neck pain, there also develops pain and stiffness around upper back. This stretching exercise is targeted to stretch the shoulder blade muscle. Shoulder blade muscles are present on the upper back region between the two shoulder blades.

You can follow other effective upper back pain relief exercises, for this exercise just follow these steps:

1. Sit or stand straight.
2. Let us start with stretching the left shoulder blade muscle. 
3. Stretch your left arm across your chest, and use the opposite hand to pull it closer towards your body gently.
4. This will stretch the muscles between your shoulder blades, helping with the overall mobility and stiffness in your neck and upper back.
5. Hold for 30 seconds to a minute.
6. Now, repeat the exact same steps on the right side.
7. Repeat this alternately on both sides 3-4 times.

Neck strengthening exercises for cervical spondylitis

Due to pain, you might avoid moving your neck too much, which can weaken the muscles. The exercises we are going to discuss are designed such that we can strengthen all the muscles around the neck. 

Here’s how to strengthen them:

6. Forward Neck Strengthening

This first strengthening exercise is targeted to strengthen the muscles on the front of the neck. All the strengthening exercises we are going to cover involves pressing the head against the resisting hand. The only difference is the placement of the hand and the direction of motion of the head. Don’t get confused, its very easy and takes only few minutes to learn.

The first exercise is the forward neck strengthening exercise, so for this, we need to place our hand on the forehead as displayed in the figure and move our head in the forward direction. Here’s the step-by-step process.

1. Sit straight with your feet flat on the ground.
2. Place your hand on your forehead.
3. Now, slowly push your head into your hand, and resist without letting your head move much. This is not about forcing your head against your hand; it’s about creating tension without discomfort. 
4. Hold for 10 seconds and then come to a relaxed position.
5. Repeat this for 10 times in a session.

7. Backward Neck Strengthening

This exercise is aimed to strengthen the muscles on the back of the neck. The process is the same as the previous exercise, with slight modifications. Here are the steps to follow.

1. Interlocking your hands at the back of your head.
2. Now, press your head backwards against your hands.
3. Hold this position for 10 seconds and then relax it.
4. Repeat it 10 times a session. 

8. Lateral Neck Strengthening

This exercise is aimed at strengthening the muscles on the sides of the neck.ie. left side and right side neck muscle. I will explain the process for one side, you just need to follow exact same process on the other side.

– To perform the exercise effectively, start by finding a comfortable seated position where you can maintain good posture. 

1. Sit up straight.
2. Place your right hand on the right side of your head, just above your ear. 
3. With your hand in place, gently push your head towards your hand, resisting the motion with equal pressure.
4. Maintain this gentle pressure for 10 seconds.
5. After the 10 seconds are up, relax your head and hand. Now, repeat the process on the left side.
6. Place your left hand on the left side of your head and gently push against it, holding for another 10 seconds.
7. Perform this for a total of 10 times, alternating sides. 

Final Thoughts

In addition to these exercises you can also add shoulder flexibility exercises using wand which will be like a holistic approach to cure cervical spondylitis. Remember, you need to be consistent with these exercises to get the most out of it. They’re not only good for immediate relief but also for preventing future discomfort. Do them regularly, and you’ll likely notice a significant reduction in pain over time.

Keep Reading: What causes neck pain on the left side?