NECK PAIN
Most often patients come complaining of neck pain accompanied with or without shoulder, arm, forearm, finger pain or numbness.
Neck pain can be accompanied with headaches and muscle tightness with decreases neck movement.
The neck is made up of bones, muscles, blood vessels, joints and nerves that supply both head, neck and upper limbs (hands). Any injury to this structures will result to neck pain with associated symptoms.
CAUSES &RISK FACTORS OF NECK PAIN.
For the easy of understanding lets state both at once.
The major cause of neck pain is OCCUPATION & POOR POSTURE. If your job involves sitting in front of computer, you may need to consider readjusting your computer height to appoint where the screen is directly in front of your eyes. Ensure your feet are the ground and use of proper seat. Sitting position has been previously explained in our post. Check the Facebook page. Always take breaks regularly.
Sleeping posture- most of the time we don’t wake up in the position we slept, however we should go to sleep in better sleeping position. Sleeping on side or back is recommended since it puts less strain on your neck. Sleeping on stomach means you will turn neck to side hence more strain on neck muscles. Use sizeable pillows, not too big or too small.
Tucking phones between the ears and shoulder. This is the new style in town of simply multitasking while keeping the conversation ongoing. However in doing so, we strain our muscles which in turn results to neck pain.
Overloading. Carrying too much weight on your head, compresses your cervical joint which alternately can cause nerve compression resulting to pain.
Other causes include cervical spondylosis, neck muscle sprain, meningitis, tumors, rheumatoid arthritis.
PREVENTION.
Following the cause we can highlight the prevention among them being;
Adapt proper sleeping posture
Adapt proper working posture when on computer.
Regular neck stretching exercises during your daily breaks.
Avoid excessive loading of the neck.
Do neck strengthening exercises.
Neck pain is treatable once the cause is identified. Visit your doctor to find out the best treatment for you.
