Neck & Upper Back Pain
Because your neck is responsible for constantly supporting and moving your head (which can be about 14-16 pounds), it often can get injured. To make it more complicated, the neck is more than just the neck. Because of biomechanics, the neck, head, upper back and shoulders all must work together and move properly. Some common symptoms are achy pain, sharp pain, limited range of motion, headaches, pain between the shoulders, numbness, tingling and achiness in the arms are. Most common neck and upper back pain is caused by poor posture, stress, disc problems, and chiropractic subluxations. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms or pain, call us so we can help alleviate the pain.
What Nauses Neck Pain
There are a number of reasons why your neck might hurt. There can be acute neck pain or chronic. As chiropractors, this is where we excel. Here are a few reasons you could have pain
Acute Pain
Acute pain in the neck is usually defined by incidence of pain that you normally don’t have and has started within the last month or so. Most of the time this is due to injury but there are other causes as well.
- Acute Subluxations: Sometimes neck pain is a simple as sleeping wrong on your neck or just turning wrong. There are lot of cases where this happens and you cannot turn your head. In children this is called torticollis.While these can be painful, these usually respond well to treatment.
- Whiplash- Car accident are a very common cause of neck injuries. These can cause severe pain and muscles spasm. These also can be complicated by disc herniation, muscle strains, ligament tears or even fractures. Low speed collisions can even cause lasting injuries. It is important to be evaluated as soon as possible to determine the appropriate care.
- Neck strains/sprains – Injuries happen. These could be sports injuries, work injuries or just a fall. Mobilizing these joints and getting tissues moving again are imperative on preventing long term scar tissue.
Chronic Pain
Chronic neck pain is usually defined a pain that is consistent for more than 3 months. Chronic neck pain is a very common condition that effects millions of Americans. Women are especially effected. Posture and ergonomics play a huge role in why people get chronic and unrelenting neck pain.
1. Posture – Posture is probably the number one reason we see neck problems. Posture is a neurological condition that just doesn’t go away and needs to be trained out. Posture usually causes tightness and pain across the neck and shoulders and frequently causes headaches.
2. Ergonomics – Sometimes our working conditions can cause repetitive motions or improper positions for several hours. This has a similar effect on our spines as posture and can cause chronic pain and tightness.
3. Arthritis and Disc Degeneration – When the spine becomes deteriorated by years of abuse, poor posture, injury and age, mobility decreases and pain often follows. Proper intersegmental vertebral movements help restore mobility and decrease pain.
4. Shoulder Pathologies – Believe it or not chronic shoulder problems can extend up into the neck. This is mainly due to the muscle attachments of the trapizius, levator scapulea and rhomboid muscles.
5. Diseases – Rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, meningitis, or osteoarthritis can all cause chronic neck pain
Complications
- Headaches – Neck pain can cause acute or re-occurring headaches. These can be at the base of the neck or across the forehead. Trigger points in the neck typically refer pain into the head.
- Arm Pain/Numbness – When the nerves in the neck are pinched than pain can extend down the arm as a burn, tingle, sharp or shooting pain all the way to your fingers.
- Dizziness – Vertigo can start when the nerves in the neck are disrupted and they can not tell your head where your body is and this results in a feeling of dizziness
- Mid back pain – The spine is one continuous motor unit. Typically movement in then neck extends all the way into the mid back. Additionally, when a cervical disc is irritated, pain is referred to the same side between the shoulder blades.
What Can You Do About Neck pain
The first thing you need to do is get a proper diagnosis of your neck pain. There are many things you can do at home for neck pain but if there is something deeper going on that waiting for care may be harmful to your health. Chiropractors are one of the best sources to seek initial care for neck pain. They have had years of training and experience to rule out any serious pathologies and have the knowledge on how to direct your care. Any good chiropractor will also include some kind of home care. Our philosophy has always to empower our patients to manage their own musculoskeletal complaints. Here are a few things you can do to help manage your complaints:
- Seek help -By seeking the help of a professional with the knowledge and experiance to diagnosis and explain the source of your pain and than direct you on how to manage your pain
- Learn stretch and release techniques – The easiest and quickest way to start managing your own pain is learning which muscles to stretch and more importantly how. Couple this with self myofacial release and you can really make a difference.
- Strengthen the neck – There is a high correlation between weakness in the deep neck flexors and neck pain and headaches. Additionally, muscles such as the lower trap are typically weak and inhibited in posture syndromes.
- Sleep right – Getting the right pillow is imperative with neck pain. This can depend on how you sleep. Side sleepers need a pillow high enough so your neck lays in line with the rest of your spine. Back sleepers need a shorter pillow and supports your neck curve. Stomach sleeping typically causes neck pain and using a body pillow helps keep your neck from completely turning to the side.
- Check your ergonomics – If your sitting all day or having to twist all day at work, you’ve got problems and you need to change your environment.
