Neck pain can arise for a multitude of reasons, such as: “laying crooked while watching TV, sleeping in a draft, response to a cold or flu, due to a sinus infection (referred pain), it can arise from an injury like car accidents, over lifting or carrying, it can come from pinching the phone between your ear and shoulder, or can even come from stress”.
The most important thing to understand and remember about neck pain is that neck pain is a symptom, which means we need to identify the cause of your neck pain.
These are some common causes of neck pain:
1. Degenerative Disk Disease (DDD)
Between our vertebrae, we have small “shock absorbers”, which retain water allowing the spine to handle and take on the day-to-day stresses and “trauma” of everyday life. Over time though, as years go by, these shock absorbers between the vertebrae lose their ability to retain water, causing them to be more narrow, less flexible, and unable to absorb shock the way they used to. This is a common cause of neck pain and stiffness.
2. Mechanical Neck Pain
In this category is any neck pain that does not involve pinching the nerves. A common source of neck pain come from the facet joints; small joints that lie in the back of the vertebra. Injury to the ligaments (sprains) which hold the bones together, or injury to the muscles and/or tendons (sprain) that move bones and connect muscles to bones, also fall in this category.
3. Pinched Nerves
When a nerve is pinched in the neck, pain can radiate down the arm. There are two ways for a nerve to be pinched, by: a herniated disk or a bone spur off the front of the facet joints and/or back edge of the vertebra. Think of a disk like a jelly donut, when the jelly “leaks out”, the disk has herniated and can pinch a nerve resulting in arm pain. Classic arm pain can be felt when a bone is infringing on the nerve.
4. Spinal Stenosis
There are two types of spinal stenosis: central and lateral. When a patient is suffering from a central spinal stenosis, “a narrow spinal canal pinches the spinal cord creating pain, numbness, and/or weakness in the arms and/or legs”. When a patient is suffering from a lateral spinal stenosis, “narrowing of the hole where the nerve exits creates arm pain, numbness, or weakness” when the nerve is pinched, pain similar to that of a herniated disk.
Content Courtesy of Chiro-Trust.org. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Augustine of Augustine Chiropractic in Wesley Chapel, FL, has over 31 years of experience treating patients for their neck pain and their ailments through personalized chiropractic care treatments. The locally owned and operated chiropractic clinic offers both in-office treatments and at-home therapy regiments to help people recover and heal from auto injuries and other conditions. The staff is dedicated to providing alternative and therapeutic solutions for better overall health. Give them a call today at (813) 994-6008 to schedule and appointment and visit their website to learn more about their services!