Neck Pain
What is neck pain?
Neck pain refers to pain originating from the cervical spine which comprises of the top seven vertebrae that form your neck. It may present as pain along the cervical spine, in the head, shoulder pain or referred arm pain, tingling or numbness. If you are one of the many Australians suffering from neck pain, you will be pleased to know that most neck pain can be resolved with good physiotherapy management.
Causes
Poor posture is one of the most common reasons so many people suffer from neck pain. This is due to the complicated function of the neck. The neck needs to provide a stable base to support your head, which weighs on average 5kg, but also needs to be very flexible in order to move your head in different directions through a large range of movement.
The neck is controlled by a number of muscles which co-ordinate all of it's movements. When these muscles are working correctly the neck is well supported and under normal load. However, problems arise when the neck is placed under abnormal load through posture, computer work, inadequate pillow support or injury. This often creates pain through excessive pressure being placed on the joints and muscles in the neck.
If this load is excessive, such as in a whiplash injury, or sustained over a long period of time, such as with computer work or poor posture, it creates an imbalance of the muscles in the neck. As a result, some muscles become weak and underused and others become tight and overused, often creating pain in the process. This imbalance cannot simply be corrected through correcting your posture but needs specific physiotherapy assessment and treatment to help return the neck to it's normal function.
Other common causes of neck pain are; arthritis, stress and tension, wry neck and sporting injuries. These conditions all respond well to physiotherapy management.
Physiotherapy Management
At Flinders Avenue Physiotherapy we have a comprehensive approach to treating neck pain and we get great results from both acute and more chronic neck conditions. We will help you become pain-free and provide a follow-up programme to prevent reoccurrence.
Our typical physiotherapy management of your neck pain consists of;
- full postural analysis and posture retraining
- spinal mobilisations
- massage or myofascial release of the tight neck and shoulder muscles
- stretches
- strengthening exercises for the neck, shoulder blades, rotator cuff and upper back muscles
- teaching of self release techniques
- provision of a contour pillow to adequately support the neck whilst sleeping
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