What’s Causing Your Chronic Neck Pain?
Neck pain is something almost everyone experiences at some point. It could result from sleeping in an uncomfortable position, spending too much time looking down at your phone, or overdoing it on a weekend project.
When neck pain continues for weeks or months, keeps coming back, or interferes with your everyday life, there may be an underlying issue that needs to be addressed. Understanding what is causing your chronic neck pain is an important first step toward finding lasting relief.
Common Causes of Chronic Neck Pain
Your neck — or cervical spine — is made up of vertebrae, discs, joints, muscles, ligaments, and nerves that work together to support your head and allow movement. When any of these structures become injured, irritated, or begin to deteriorate, chronic pain can develop.
Some common causes we see at Midwest Pain Solutions:
- Poor Posture
Think about how much time you spend looking at a phone or computer each day. When your head repeatedly moves forward and downward, it can place stress on the muscles and joints in your neck. Over time, poor posture can contribute to muscle tightness, stiffness, reduced mobility, headaches, and discomfort.
- Degenerative Changes
As we age, the structures within the neck naturally change. The discs between the vertebrae may lose height and hydration, while the joints can experience wear and tear. Conditions such as degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis may cause ongoing stiffness, reduced range of motion, inflammation, and pain.
- Injuries
An old injury can continue causing problems long after the initial event – such as car accidents. The rapid back-and-forth movement associated with whiplash can injure the muscles, ligaments, joints, and soft tissues of the neck. Falls and other accidents can have similar effects.
- Muscle Strain
The muscles surrounding your neck work hard throughout the day. Repetitive movements, physical work, stress, and your sleeping position can cause these muscles to become tight or overworked.
- Pinched Nerves
Neck pain isn’t always limited to your neck. When a nerve in the cervical spine becomes compressed or irritated, you may experience symptoms that travel into the shoulder, arm, or hand. These symptoms can include:
- Sharp / shooting pain
- Burning pain
- Tingling
- Numbness
- Weakness
- Spinal Stenosis
Spinal stenosis occurs when spaces within the spine become narrower, placing pressure on the spinal cord or nearby nerves. Degenerative changes, including changes to the discs and joints, can contribute to this narrowing. Depending on the location and severity, cervical spinal stenosis may cause neck pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness.
- Restricted Movement
Healthy joints are designed to move. When the joints of the cervical spine aren’t moving properly, surrounding muscles may begin compensating. That can contribute to stiffness, muscle guarding, reduced range of motion, and pain. Restoring proper movement and function can also be an important part of addressing the problem.
Finding the Root Cause of Your Neck Pain
If you’ve had neck pain for months or even years, you may have already tried stretching, massage, medications, injections, or other approaches with limited results. At Midwest Pain Solutions, our goal is to look beyond where it hurts and determine the root cause of your chronic pain.
How Midwest Pain Solutions Can Help
Depending on the cause of your neck pain and your individual needs, your customized treatment plan may incorporate therapies such as:
- Chiropractic Care – can help improve joint alignment, mobility, and overall function of the spine.
- High-Intensity Laser Therapy (HILT) – uses energy to reach deeper tissues and is used as part of our approach to promote the body’s natural healing processes.
- Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy – uses acoustic waves and may be incorporated into care when muscles, tendons, ligaments, or other soft tissues are contributing to chronic pain.
The appropriate treatment depends on the individual, which is why understanding the source of the pain comes first. At Midwest Pain Solutions, we provide customized, non-invasive chronic pain care at our Green Bay and Appleton clinics.
If you are experiencing chronic neck pain, schedule a no-cost consultation with Dr. Jackson to discuss your symptoms, learn what may be causing your pain, and find out whether our treatment may be right for you.
Decrease Pain. Increase Function. Restore Life.
