Neck Pain. How We Can Help You!

Do you suffer from Neck Pain? Are you constantly rubbing your neck while sitting at your desk? Do wake each morning with a stiff neck? Or maybe you are one of the many countless people who suffer headaches on a daily basis?

Rest assured you are not alone. Each and every day we see countless people suffering from neck pain and stiffness. Why? It’s because neck pain is a very common complaint. A quick anatomy lesson to learn where your neck pain can come from? Our neck has 7 bones known as the Cervical Vertebrae. They each have a “Spinal Disc” in-between to act as a shock absorber. These bones connect our head to your spine and our spine to your rib cage. There are so many muscles, ligaments, and joints that make this fantastic structure so mobile. But as a consequence, is prone to injury, sprains, or strains.

Some Quick Statistics On Neck Pain:

Around 10% of the adult population at any one time is suffering from neck pain or stiffness
Cervical Disc problems are present in as many as 40% of males, and 28% of females between the ages of 55-64
X-ray signs (but not necessarily symptoms) of Osteoarthritis of the neck are commonly present in as much as 50% of those over 50. This means they are completely PAIN-free!

What are the Symptoms of Neck Pain:

It is important to understand that symptoms of neck pain may vary vastly between individuals. This is primarily because our necks are unique to the individual. Yes, we all have the same structure. But it’s how we have developed, the size of your muscles, your posture, stress, and height ALL play a part in making up your neck. Keeping this in mind some of the common symptoms we see are:

Stiffness and tightness: The various muscles in our neck. Just like any other muscle in our body can be subjected to strains, spasm and strain.

Headaches: YES. so many headaches stem from our neck. They are known as Cervicogenic headaches. These types of headaches respond really nicely to soft tissue massage, mobilization, and strength.

Difficulty Turning your head: This can be as a result of muscle spasm or the small joints in the neck becoming.

Shoulder Pain: YES. This is known as referred pain. This is why it’s essential to identify the cause of your pain and treat this. NOT just treating the symptoms.

Neck Pain Treatment. What Do We Do?

This first step in treatment is getting a specific diagnosis for you! The Osteopaths at Equilibrium are highly skilled to help identify the CAUSE of your neck pain. An Osteopathic treatment session will usually involve:

Soft Tissue massage: This is designed to relieve the muscle spasm and tightness of the neck and shoulder muscles.
Joint Articulation and Mobilisation: Gently improving the movement of the small joints of the neck and upper back.
Sports taping – This helps aid in improving your postural awareness of the neck/shoulder and upper back position.
Strength training: This is the KEY to long term health and wellbeing!

Here are our Top 3 Exercises For Improving Your Neck Pain:

Exercise 1: SHRUG

HOW:

Hold a dumbbell in each hand by your waist with your palms facing each other. Shrug your shoulders up, pause for a 1 second then lower back to the start

Exercise 2: Face Pull:

HOW

Using a Theraband if you don’t have access to a cable system pulley.

Sit on the floor.
Loop the band around your feet
Grab the band, palms facing downwards and your shoulder’s elevated to 90 degree’s.
Leading with your elbows, and maintaining the shoulder position and a strong core, Pull backward. You should feel the muscles of the upper backfire.
Slowly return to the starting position, and repeat.
Ensure your head and neck stay stable. Without Jutting forwards.
Aim for 2 x 12-15 reps

Exercise 3: The Halo:

HOW:

As per the video adopt a kneeling stance. This can also be done standing.
Turn the kettlebell upside down grasping the horns (the vertical sides of the handle). The handle should face down and the bottom or ball of the kettlebell faces up. Ensure it stays close to your body. Not allowing it to move too far away from your head,
Begin by circling to the right. Carry the kettlebell around the right side of your head and let the kettlebell drop down behind the neck. Finish the circle by bringing it around the left side of your head back to the starting position. You will be touching your hair—you almost want to mess it up as you come around.
After you complete one full rotation, reverse direction. Begin by circling to the left and finish by coming around the right back to the starting position.
Relax your shoulders, allowing them to move in a complete circle.

Other Neck Pain facts:

We are firm believers that prevention is always better than cure. Here is a shortlist of some measures to help with your neck pain:

Undertake an exercise program: This should be aimed at strengthening specific parts of your neck/shoulders and written by your health care provider. Making this program specific to you and your needs. You can start with the above 3 exercises.
Stay mobile, move well, and move often. Go for a 20-25 minute walk daily to promote cardiovascular health and overall movement throughout the whole body.
Take regular breaks – We usually recommend moving once every half an hour, or twice every hour
Optimize workplace ergonomics. Our Osteopaths are more than happy to provide advice on how best to set up your workplace to optimize your workstation ergonomics.
Stay hydrated throughout the day

What do I do now?

If you are unsure where to start or what to do. Why not come in to see one of our caring Osteopathic team members. We can provide you with the advice, and hands-on treatment tp let you start enjoying your life once again, without neck pain. We pride ourselves on creating long term solutions to your pain and irritation.