What Is Making My Neck Hurt?

The other day I woke up with a little pain in my neck, so it occurred to me to write a little bit about neck pain.

Right next to back problems, neck pain is one of the biggest problems for Americans every year. It's true that little pains are likely to creep into our lives little by little as we get older; unfortunately, it's often a part of the normal aging process. However, that isn't always the way it goes. Acute pain that shoots right through you and chronic pain that hangs around for long periods of time are both indications of a dysfunction. Pain is the physical signal that tells us to stop our activity because of potential physical damage we have experienced. On the other hand, as complicated as our bodies are, sometimes the pain we feel isn't actually related to the place where damage has occurred.

Let's cover a few of the more common reasons for neck pain, all of which we routinely treat at Living Well Medical in NYC.

Neck Muscle Strain: Overusing the muscles that support the head and neck can result in muscle pain. Poor posture, whiplash injuries, and poor ergonomics often contribute to muscle strains in the neck. For less serious strains, deep tissue massage can be beneficial, especially when coupled with physical therapy to strengthen those muscles and prevent future problems. Your treatment might be different depending on the type of muscle strain.

Facet Joint Syndrome: Each of the bones in the spine contain four facet joints, and when they work properly, they are responsible for a lot of movement and flexibility of the spine. Trauma, deterioration of intervertebral discs, and poor posture are among the more common causes of pain related to the facet joints. Physical therapy and non-surgical spinal decompression can be effective in treating facet joint syndrome, but individual needs will vary

Cervical Disc Herniation: The spongy structures between the spinal bones can sometimes bulge out and herniate, compressing the nearby nerves in the spinal canal. The pain can range from irritating to completely debilitating, and some patients opt for spinal surgery as a result. Our treatment programs incorporates a number of different therapies (determined by the initial evaluation), often including spinal disc decompression and physical rehabilitation.

This only scratches the surface of the reasons we experience pain in the neck. If the pain is bad enough that it's affecting the way that you live each day, give us a call at Living Well Medical in NYC at (212) 645-8151.

Cervical Pain in NYC: What Makes my Neck Hurt?

Next to back pain, neck pain is one of the principle reasons that people miss work in the United States, but of course, there isn’t just one hard and fast reason for neck pain. Each person’s pain will be different based on factors like lifestyle choices, previous injuries and genetic predispositions; however, one thing all types of neck pain have in common is their overwhelming ability to shut down activity, particularly for cases that are severe or chronic.

At our practice, Living Well Medical in NYC, we regularly treat patients with cervical pain (cervical refers to the uppermost portion of the spine and correlates to the neck in vertebrate mammals such as humans), taking a comprehensive approach that combines a variety of non-surgical techniques for pain relief. Below, you will find a few of many causes of neck pain, each of which will contain possibilities for treatment we make available to our patients.

Degenerative Disc Disease

As we age, the spongy material in between the vertebrae can degrade, reducing its ability to act as a shock absorber. The weakening of the outer wall of the disc, the annulus fibrosus, can also lead to bulging or herniation. Degenerative disc disease is not a painful problem for most people as it is a normal part of aging, but can lead to significant impairment in some circumstances. Symptoms of this condition are numerous and can include neck/back pain, tingling, and weakness, among others.

At Living Well Medical in NYC, we bring together a number of non-surgical treatment options for patients suffering with degenerative disc disease. Often that will include non-surgical spinal decompression with the DRX9000, cold laser therapy (which can help encourage faster healing), physical therapy and gentle chiropractic treatments.

Herniated Disc

Spinal discs that develop a tear in the fibrous tissue that surrounds the gel-like center sometimes spill some of their contents out, causing pressure on the sciatic nerve. This can occur in any of the spinal discs, but the cervical (neck) and lumbar (lower back) discs are particularly susceptible. Herniated discs are not always painful, but compression of the nerve roots in the spine associated with disc herniation can be debilitating, causing severe lower back pain, leg pain, and muscle weakness.

For many of our patients, the DRX9000 non-surgical spinal decompression system has proven to be an effective alternative to the surgeries that are often prescribed by traditional medical doctors. Spinal decompression with the DRX9000 is a gentle stretching of the spine that is guided by a computer system. By adjust the angle of the stretch and the force, important nutrients can reach the discs, promoting healing and relieving pain.

Pinched Nerve

A pinched nerve is a broader term for any nerve impingement or irritation as a result of compression. A pinched nerve can be the result of a herniated disc, a bulging disc, facet joint syndrome, or a muscular issue like piriformis syndrome, to name a few. Pain from pinched nerves is often acute, sometimes described as a stabbing pain or a burning sensation. Weakness, numbness and tingling often accompany a pinched nerve. A pinched nerve in the neck can produce an effect called ‘referred pain,’ meaning a patient is experiencing pain in a part of the body that is adjacent to or distant from the actual site of injury. That’s one of the reasons that an extensive evaluation is necessary to pinpoint the actual site of the injury.

Treatment for a pinched nerve will depend on the specific type, but may include elements of non-surgical spinal decompression with the DRX9000, manual therapy, physical therapy, cryotherapy and cold laser treatment.

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Neck pain can be a serious problem without effective treatment. At Living Well Medical in NYC, we can help stop the pain without surgery. If cervical pain has taken control of your life, give us a call at 212-645-8151 to make an appointment.