Please don’t ignore your neck pain. Do you feel those aches and pains in your neck from time to time? Do you feel stiffness in your neck getting out of a chair after sitting for a while or working in the office with a computer job? Four out of every five Americans will suffer from neck pains at some point in their lives.
Over the last 15 years, I have seen so many patients with neck related pain who work at a desk for many hours. These people can possibly have these symptoms:
Neck or shoulder and arm radiculopathy: the result of pressure on a nerve coming from the spine, often caused by bulging or herniated disc.
Spinal stenosis: this is a narrowing of the bony spinal canal which causes the nerves to be “squeezed”.
Facet arthropathy: this is usually due to aging or “arthritis” of the joint in the spine.
Cervical sprain/strain: this is common cause of neck pain that may be due to multiple injury problem such as muscle and tendon pain. The parallel rows of muscles that run up and down
either sides of the spinal column are the major muscle group with rotator cuff muscles and trapezium muscle.
Spinal cord compression: this is unusual, but very worrisome condition, that may be associated with weakness and loss of bowel/bladder control.
A recent survey showed that more than half of all first time visits to a primary care physician for neck pain were because the patient was unable to work or conduct daily activities.
Don’t Ignore Your Neck Pain
Most neck pain sufferers will try over the counter pain relieving drugs and bed rest. But for the majority, these self remedies will not provide the relief that they need, In fact, bed rest or self stretching can often be the wrong thing to do, because it can weaken the spinal muscles further. Weakness in the spinal muscles is one of the main reasons for neck pain and puts you at risk for injuring your neck with common daily activities such as bending, rotation and extension. Most of us sit too much with neck tilted forward and flexed which can cause severe neck pain and tension on the neck and upper shoulder that lead to cervical injury.
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