What Can You Do About Neck Pain?

Neck Pain

It is a common misconception that the majority of neck complaints are caused by sitting or sleeping in a draught. People often wake up with a stiff neck in the morning. This can usually be traced to some activity of the past few days that has caused a strain on the neck joints in the spine. This injury can then be aggrivated by awkward movements during sleep. This can lock the small joints on the side of the spine or even damage a disc.

What Should I Do If This Happens?

A simple neck problem which may cause mild stiffness with some pain and tenderness into the shoulder area, may be relieved by simply moving it. Regularly turning your head to either side; tipping your head backwards; and trying to look into theback corners of the room can gently work the joints free. All such movements should be carried out 'little and often', and gently to the point of tension - not pain!

What are the symptoms of a more complicated condition?

1. The pain is so severe that you can hardly move your neck at all.
2. The pain is going down into one arm.
3. You have pins and needles or numbness in the hand.
4. You have persistent headaches. [As many as 95% of migranes have been shown to come from the neck].
5. You have dizziness or giddiness. [This may be coming from the neck but you should see your doctor to rule out other medical causes first.]
6. You have been involved in an incident where you have sustained a "whiplash". [Whiplash injuries are not specific to car accidents.]
7. Whiplash injuries need fast, effective treatment to deal with damage to soft tissue. Rest is seldom the answer and can often slow the recovery.
8. You have symptoms into the legs as well as severe neck pain. [With this situation you should see your doctor first.]

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   How can a Chartered Physiotherapist help with neck pain?

   
   The Chartered Physiotherapist's extensive training in Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology means that no health professional has a better understanding of how the body works and what happens when things go wrong.
   When there are physical problems with the spine, the joints or the soft tissues, the Chartered Physiotherapist has the range of skills to treat the condition.
   Perhaps as important, they have the training to know when not to treat. This can be just as important as being able to efficiently treat your complaint.