Do you wake up with a stiff neck in the mornings?
Or find yourself turning and tilting your head from side to side after a few hours of being at work to get rid of that discomfort in your neck?
While your neck is such an important structure in controlling your movements, supporting your head and protecting your spinal cord the discomfort you feel can literally be:
The most annoying pain to put up with.
So why do you experience neck pain and are the neck pain symptoms you’re having something to be worried about?
What Are The Neck Pain Symptoms Causing Your Discomfort?
Because the neck is so complex, the neck pain symptoms you experience really depend on the underlying cause of your problem whether that be changes to the joints, muscles, nerves or a combination of all three.
Muscle Spasm
Your muscles are there to support movement and in the case of your neck…to hold your head up!
Over time some muscles become overused, usually because of bad posture.
Think about the strain your neck muscles go through if you’re sitting with your head and shoulders hunched forward for most hours of the day.
Since these muscles become tight they can lead to pain in your neck where you usually have to massage it to make it feel better only for the pain to come back a few hours later.
Reduced Movement In Your Neck
The less you move your neck the more discomfort it will cause in the future
Imagine sitting down and looking at your computer or phone for 20 minutes straight. What about one hour or even two…
Do you even need to imagine it? Chances are you’re already doing it on a daily basis.
Holding your neck in certain positions leads to stiffness and pain which over time causes a reduction in movement in your neck. This pain which eventually becomes normal because you’re so used to it limits you from looking up, tilting from side to side and even fully turning over your shoulder.
Pain in Your Shoulder, Arm & Fingers
If you’re experiencing pain that goes down into your shoulder arm or fingers that may start with or without neck pain then this is a symptom of neck pain you have to watch out for.
As if neck pain isn’t bad enough pain in the arm usually suggests involvement of a nerve in your neck.
Two of the most common reasons for neck pain with pain in the arm are a neck bulging disc or degenerative change to the bone. Both of these can cause compression of the nerves in your neck.
Depending on which nerve is compressed will determine where you experience electric pain, pins and needles or tingling in your hands or fingers.
When this occurs its always best to see a health professional to get an accurate diagnosis of the problem.
Headaches
If 1 + 1 = 2 than poor posture + neck pain = Headaches
Headaches are a very common symptom of neck pain since most of the muscles in the neck are used to hold your head up!
Cervicogenic headaches (Neck pain headaches) as they’re known are changes in the structure of the joints or muscles in your neck which cause referral to your head and give the feeling of a ‘headache’.
These structural changes often come about due to poor posture.
You might notice these headaches come about towards the end of the day especially after sitting for a long period of time because of tension build up throughout the day.
Neck Stiffness That Decreases With Movement
Your spine puts in a lot of hard work. Day after day. Year after year.
Walking, running, standing, sitting, bending and twisting. They’re normal things we do which lead to change over time. Like anything, with age, your spine undergoes wear and tear and gradual degeneration because of these stresses.
Your spine is made of bones which have discs in between them. These discs cushion your spine and protect it from these movements. Over time these discs wear out leading to degenerative change to both the disc and the bones of the spine.
Degenerative Disc Disease and osteoarthritis are both changes which cause the symptoms of a “stiff neck” when you wake up in the morning that goes away as you start moving.
Normally you’ll blame it on the pillow or say that you slept funny and get on with your day.
But the longer it continues coming and going for no apparent reason its time to see a health professional to see exactly whats going on.
What Can You Do About Your Neck Pain?
Your neck pain symptoms may be similar to the ones we just talked about or they may be very unique to you.
Two people may be suffering from identical symptoms but the causes of their symptoms may be completely different. Neck pain not only interferes with your day to day life but can also be an indicator of potential, long term health issues.
If you feel that your neck pain symptoms aren’t going away or are starting to get worse call us today or book online to see if neck pain treatment from a Spine and Posture Care Chiropractor in Sydney CBD can help you.
