What a pain in the neck!
Each year, thousands of Americans suffer from acute onset or persistent neck pain as a result of injury, strain, overuse, or aging. While it is usually related to poor posture or repetitive activity, in order to prevent possible permanent damage, you need to pay attention to it if it persists for more than a few days.
How to Distinguish your Neck Pain
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- The dull localized ache: Usually stays in one specific area but sometimes can radiate down into the upper shoulders as muscle tension and burning. Sometimes the pain experienced in the shoulder or shoulder blade may be more noticeable than the neck after a period of time. This type of pain is often an overuse and repetitive stress caused by poor, unsupported chair posture or misplaced monitor position.
- The “referred pain” syndrome: This type of pain is usually felt first in some area distant from where the problem actually is. It might be felt as tingling or sharp, shooting pain. It’s often associated with nerve compression at the neck that is sending pain messages to the muscles it supplies. If left untreated, weakness, numbness, tingling and/or loss of muscular control are possibilities. This is commonly seen with people who look up at their monitors or who lean forward on their desks to type.
The following conditions are most commonly linked to neck pain:
- Arthritis
- Cervical Disc Herniation
- Pinched Nerves
- Postural syndrome
- Whiplash
Treatments
Treatments for neck pain range from as simple as changing your work space, posture and movement routine to seeing your doctor for injections, testing, xrays, MRI or spending hours with a physical therapist or chiropractor (when you say it like that, what sounds easier?). Most who don’t see a medical professional right away tell themselves “it will get better on its own. It always has”. However, research shows that repetitive cycles of pain, over time, become longer lasting and more frequent, making it harder for the muscle to heal. The cycle of pain repeats itself until the pain becomes exponentially more difficult to relieve with conservative measures.
However, treatment alone often is not enough. If you return to the same poor postural positions or repetitive stress activities that perpetuate your pain, your body will never have a chance to heal and strengthen. It has been found that, to have the most successful outcomes over time, a proper ergonomics assessment of your work environment and the use of additional back support to improve postural positioning is a must.
Final Thoughts
With successful holistic alternatives available now, there are only a few good reasons to turn to pharmaceutical or surgical band-aids especially since research shows that only 50% of surgical or pharmaceutical interventions actually get rid of the underlying issue. If you have pain, go see your medical professional immediately to rule out anything serious. If you don’t have pain, now is the time to work on these things because it’s much easier to prevent pain than it is to treat it.
Last but certainly not least, keeping your spine strong also requires sufficient amounts of daily, balanced nutrition and hydration. So, stretch your legs, stretch your arms, get the blood flowing and, if you’re really motivated, reach out to us or sign up for our newsletter to get more information on postural re-education and how to address your home office set up as part of your body awareness. Contact us at hello@backbonecushion.com. We will help get you and your back on track!
