Usually, your neck is the most mobile part of your spine because it has various ranges of motion. For this reason, it predisposes you to suffer from neck injury and pain. The pain can be mild, moderate, and severe, preventing you from turning or lying to sleep. There are various causes of pain. When you begin experiencing any discomfort around your neck, you are supposed to seek help for an appropriate diagnosis of the cause and determine the best treatment for you. Therefore, if you are experiencing neck pain and seeking relief, Dr. Adam Lewis Flowood and his team of specialists provide a solution to your problem. They perform accurate diagnoses and offer various treatments, including minimally invasive spine surgery and nonsurgical treatments to alleviate pain. Let’s learn more about neck pain below.
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What causes neck pain?
There are various causes of neck pain, including:
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Trauma
Generally, injuries from car accidents, work, falls, or sporting activities can result in neck pain. The most common traumatic neck injury is whiplash, where your head moves violently backward and forward. Similarly, exercising beyond the fitness limit or overdoing exercises also causes injuries such as muscle strains.
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Nerve irritation
Pinching or any irritation along the cervical vertebral nerve pathways found at the top of your neck can result in neck pain. If you have cervical stenosis or a herniated disc, you experience pinching. Cervical stenosis refers to narrowing your spinal canal at the neck region.
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Being unfit
Obesity or weak stomach muscles caused by poor postures also causes neck pain. Chronic stress also exerts pressure on your neck muscles which tightens them, leading to pain.
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Chronic illnesses
Chronic or long-term diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative disc disease, and osteoarthritis also cause neck pain.
Additional causes of neck pain include infections, tumors, or spinal fractures.
What are the symptoms of neck pain?
Typically, neck pain can either be mild, moderate, or severe. Some of the symptoms you might experience include numbness, weakness, loss of function, stiffness, tingling, or muscle spasms. In other instances, you might also find moving your head and neck challenging, thus affecting how you sleep because you cannot sleep in one position for long. You can also hear clicking or grating noises when moving your neck. Additionally, you might feel dizzy or lose consciousness when looking up or turning your head from side to side.
How can neck pain be treated?
Usually, resting for a few days is recommended to help alleviate pain. Some medications may be prescribed to reduce inflammation and relieve pain. In other cases, a neck collar offers extra support if needed, and physical therapy is also good for most patients. Epidural steroids and point injections can be administered to reduce neck pain if the above methods are ineffective. Neck surgeries, including cervical artificial disc replacement, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, posterior cervical laminectomy, anterior cervical corpectomy, anterior lumbar interbody fusion, and DTRAX posterior cervical decompression and stabilization can be performed.
Neck pain can prevent you from participating in activities of daily living and can affect your overall health. Therefore, If you are experiencing any of the named neck pain symptoms and seek relief, start by booking your appointment at Jackson Neurosurgery Clinic today.
