Neck pain is a common condition which affects majority of people with poor postural habits. With the increasing trend of spending hours on social media looking down into the mobile phones, neck is becoming prone to strain injuries. Pain and discomfort in and around neck region including shoulder, head and arm can be a sign of some underlying condition.
Causes of neck pain:
- Sleeping in an uncomfortable position
- Prolonged Straining (looking down or up)
- Cervical spondylosis (age related wear and tear of bone)
- Nerve compression (cervical radiculopathy)
- Disc bulge (herniated disc)
- Spinal Stenosis
- Cervical rib
- Mal-alignment of cervical vertebrae
- Stress
- Wearing heavy necklace
- Poor posture
- Neck pain can also be due to some rare infections like tuberculosis, osteomyelitis, meningitis etc
Symptoms of neck pain/ cervical pain:
- Neck pain can be associated with tingling and numbness in shoulder, elbow and arms.
- Headaches
- Stiffness of surrounding muscle
- feeling nausea
- weakness in arm
- tiredness in neck muscles
- throat pain
- tenderness (pain on touch)
- difficulty in moving neck
In majority of cases, neck pain is not a serious issue and is related with muscular strains, when you hold your neck at a angle which creates stress on the muscles leading to pain and stiffness. It can start suddenly after a jerk or when you get up in the morning after sleeping in a wrong posture or using a pillow of wrong thickness. Neck pain usually resolves within a few days when addressed with physiotherapy.
Treatment of Neck pain:
The first line of treatment is cold pack or a hot pack, muscle relaxants, neck collar or physical therapy. If your pain is not resolving after giving hot pack, you must consider going to a physiotherapist or your physician. During assessment, your doctor will ask you questions about onset of pain, and its relation with neck movement. They will also check for any weakness in your arms or any numbness, tingling( pins and needles sensations). If needed, to rule out any bony or soft tissue lesions, your consultant can order X Ray, MRI or CT scan.
You may be suggested muscle relaxants to give symptomatic relief. Physiotherapy treatment is a good option as it is non pharmacological and gives you pain relief without any side effect. In physiotherapy you will benefit from ultrasonic, IFT, TENS, traction and manual therapy. Many physiotherapist also practice chiropractic adjustment and soft tissue release which can give you pain relief within a session or two.
Neck Pain Exercises at home:
You can also do some basic neck exercises at home to fix your neck pain. Before doing any exercise ,make sure you take some hot fomentation to relax the muscles. Click on the you tube link to watch some exercise for neck pain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m_vAJz62Z0
- Chin tucks: place a finger on your chin and pull it back. hold for 5 seconds and bring it back. Repeat 10 times.
- Neck isometrics: Place both hands behind your head , try to push your head forward, resist with your neck by pushing backwards. Similarly resist movement with hands on sides and front.
- Neck Stretching: Place one hand on shoulder and bend the neck to opposite shoulder and hold the stretch for 5 seconds. Relax and repeat 5 times on each side.
- Shoulder Shrugs: Lift your shoulders up and hold for 5 seconds, bring them down and repeat 10 times.
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Dr Himanshu Tanwar, Physiotherapist, Chiropractor, Sports injuries specialist
