Did your neck pain appear suddenly or creep up over time?

Is your neck movement restricted? Is it hard to turn?  Is it hard to look up at the ceiling?

If yes to any of these your neck pain is most likely a result of condition affecting the joints, muscles or tendons in your neck.

Does your pain spread? Pain can develop in the neck and may spread to your shoulder, down your arm to your fingers, up to the base of the skull and over your head.  If a nerve is irritated you may also experience pins and needles or numbness in parts of your arm or hand.

Factors that can contribute to this include tension and sustained or repetitive activity such as sitting at a desk at work, using the telephone for a long period of time, playing a musical instrument, driving long-distance and using tablets or smartphones.

What conditions are linked to neck pain?

Everyday factors from desk and driving ergonomics to using tablets and smartphones can cause neck pain. There are also other problems that can cause neck pain and these are below,

• Whiplash: If your neck has a sudden jolt you may develop pain.  This is most common following a car accident.
• Torticollis: A torticollis is when the head becomes twisted to one side and it is very painful to move the head back to a straight position. This is common in younger people. You may have gone to bed feeling fine and woken up in the morning to find your is neck stuck and very painful.
• Degeneration (‘wear and tear’): This occurs in the spinal bones (vertebrae) and the discs between the vertebrae is a common cause or recurring or persistent neck pain. This is sometimes called cervical spondylosis.
• Cervical radiculopathy: This is when the root of a nerve is irritated in the neck. You may have neck pain, arm pain, numbness, pins and needles and weakness. The common causes of a radiculopathy are cervical spondylosis, stenosis and disc pathology.
• Cervicogenic headaches: These headaches are bought on by specific problems in the upper neck. Physiotherapy is effective to help correct these problems.
• More serious and rarer causes: Rheumatoid arthritis, bone disorders, infections, fractures, and serious injuries that damage the vertebrae, spinal cord or nerves in the neck. These are all examples of problems that physiotherapy can help to correct.

When you come for an assessment we will examine your neck and identify the cause of your symptoms. Once we have diagnosed this we will design your own personalised action plan for rehabilitation.

Call us on 01285 654059 to book an appointment or email hello@marklandclinic.com