Neck Pain
Neck pain commonly stems from frequent use of a smart phone or a computer typically with poor posture. Slouching your lower back also leads to a “forward head” position that causes overshortening of the muscles in the back of your neck and compression of the cervical vertebrae. This causes inefficiency that continues to cause more strain and loss of motion.
How we help?
Physical therapists help you improve motion, joint mobility, increase muscle length, restore elasticity, eliminate pain, radicular symptoms, avoid surgery, improve sleep quality, improve joint stability and muscle strength.
Your treatment plan will consist of an array of techniques that are all designed to accomplish the above listed, and teach you how to ‘fix yourself’ while not visiting us in order to maintain these changes long term.
Common causes
Tech neck’ is a relatively new term that describes how our new technology is creating new ways to become injured. Societal changes make it simple to stare into your lap at your phone for more cumulative hours than you may be aware. Combined with slouching at your computer desk the muscles in the front of your neck become weak and the muscles in the back become tight/short. This causes increased compression in the back of your neck and decreased stability due to the weakness - over time pain or injury is inevitable without addressing the issues.
1
Posture
Posture goes in hand with tech neck, but also entails awareness of your posture throughout your day even when not looking at one of your screens. Frequent sitting and/or looking downward at a handheld phone/screen causes your cervical muscles to be overworked, and over time they shorten which creates compression in the back of your neck.
2
Sleeping position
Improper sleeping position or pillow arrangement/size is a common cause of neck pain that can lead to progressive issues over time if not properly addressed.
3
Compressed nerves
Nerve compression typically leads to radiculopathy, pain or numbness down the length of that nerve. Nerves can be compressed anywhere along the length of the nerve, commonly where it exits the spine due to narrowing of the normal space. Narrowing can be caused by disc issues, stenosis or arthritis, trauma, or postural dysfunction. In either case the muscles surrounding the area go into a protective mechanism that creates additional stiffness.
4
Injury or Fall
A sudden trauma to your head or neck may cause disc or vertebral alignment issues that affect the nearby nerve roots or cause the edges of vertebra to collide with movement. Following a traumatic event your body creates a protective mechanism that causes all surrounding muscles to stiffen, which leads to loss of motion, increased compressive forces, and more pain.
5
Degenerative joint conditions
Conditions such as osteoarthritis (OA), degenerative joint disease (DJD), or degenerative disc disease (DDD) can also reduce the cartilage between the vertebrae in the neck, also resulting in neck pain. Much like any other joint in your body, the neck joints can wear down with use, eventually causing pain.
