Dealing with Chronic Neck Pain

You are experiencing chronic neck pain when the neck pain you feel is for 12 weeks or more. Here are some ways to identify causes, symptoms, and treatments for this type of pain.

Causation May Vary

Many different factors can cause neck pain, neck injury, or cervical spine stress. Neck pain may vary in severity and its exact sensation, however any type of chronic pain may be worthy of examination and should receive treatment.

Symptomatic Variation

Chronic neck pain is often felt not only on the neck but spreading throughout the shoulder area. One of the most common reasons for such symptoms is your profession. Those who stand at work most of the time or sitting for a long period doing computer works usually experience this kind of neck pain. If you are among those who face this, it may help you to know how to deal with cervical neck pain the best way possible.

However, there may be other factors that can cause neck pain for people, to varying degrees of severity. Sometimes the position a person sleeps in, poor posture, or an invisible injury from some type of strenuous activity can be a cause of neck pain. If you experience severe neck pain for a significant length of time, here are a few ways you can relieve the symptoms and possibly identify the cause in order to correct the problem.

Identifying the cause of neck pain can also be tricky because of the variation in symptoms and injury that can occur for different people, for example with the differences in sports injury between men and women. One can become injured in many obvious ways, such as a sports injury or whiplash during a car accident. Injury resulting in neck pain can also be less obvious, such as a slight sprain while exercising or issues developing while gaming at home that may worsen over time.

The Location of Pain

It is not always clear what the source of chronic neck pain is. Sometimes, the pain is simply in your neck muscle or cervical soft tissues. However, neck pain could be a sign of worse problems in your cervical spine or elsewhere, such as a sore upper back, arms or hands, head, injured nerve roots, or even a spinal cord injury. You may need to look into possible causes of serious neck pain, and that may include visiting a health professional.

Rest and Ice

If you have been suffering from neck pain for several weeks already and still you continue to deal with pressures in your work, it’s time to rest. Constant work can be demanding on your body and it is important to take the time to rest. Constantly working will only aggravate the problem. Take time to rest for a couple of days and do cold compress using ice. This acts as an anti-inflammatory which decreases neck swelling and neck pain.

Healing of the Body

Remember that the body has its natural healing capacity and this functions better with enough rest. If your symptoms are only a stiff neck and reduced range of motion when you move your head, sufficient rest will usually clear this up. It is incredible how much a body can often naturally recover, and how quickly it takes place. Even injuries and pain so severe that recovery seems unlikely fully heal. Jesus healed multiple people who were crippled, including one who had been unable to walk for 38 years (John 5:2-9) and stories of other types of miraculous healing by his hands and the hands of his disciples were common.

Sometimes health issues and pain can be overcome beyond what people at first believe to be possible. Believing that healing will occur can strongly effect the outcome of physical recovery for a number of reasons. Faith can often accomplish more than willpower alone, and one need not succumb to despair or hopelessness in the face of a health crisis. Finding complete healing for issues like those that contribute to chronic pain are preferable over treatments that address symptoms only temporarily, and full recovery may be more possible than one might think.

Equipment for Pain Relief

Several types of neck pain relief technology are featured by Neckbase.com. You can view the types of treatment featured here that include Posture Pump, Pronex, Bodysport, ComforTrac, and more. These types of treatment are common and effective for relieving neck pain. American-manufactured and customer-approved treatment options like these can be effective in reducing neck pain, and you may be able to treat your symptoms of head and neck pain at home. Check out our full list of featured products in neck pain relief.

Exercises for Neck Pain

The general idea with exercise is it makes your whole body strong and fit. This prevents the neck from being overworked. If you have not exercised for a long time, it would help a lot if you get into exercise now. There is no need to do complex exercises, the fundamental exercises you could find online will do and help prevent neck pain. The important thing is to do regular exercise. Even walking, jogging, or dancing will do. The idea is to move your body and neck to slowly build muscle strength.

Cervical Spine or Spinal Cord Health & Posture

Now, after getting into the exercise routine, you could start doing exercises that target the neck like neck stretches and exercises that helps improve good posture. This helps a lot in relieving pressure on the cervical muscles, nerve, and bones. Poor posture is also a common cause of pain, neck (cervical spine) related or back (spine) related, according to Spine Health.

Avoid Over-Exertion

Make sure not to tire yourself out from doing exercise. Do it every other day, to give your neck and body time to rest and recover. Sometimes, neck pain will worsen if exercise does not include adequate rest and recover in between exertion. Position yourself in ways that do not put excessive pressure or strain on your neck or spine when you sit or sleep.

Turning to Other Solutions

If self care and exercise do not seem to suffice to relieve your neck pain, consider turning to medical assistance and care. If you notice weakness, numbness, tingling, or other forms of pain, look into some medical pain relief or physical therapy options for treatment of neck pain. You may need to consult a doctor for medical advice on your neck pain, especially if your range of motion is consistently hindered or other serious symptoms persist.

Professional Therapeutic Massage

Though we can massage our neck or let someone from the family do it, therapy for neck and muscles still best done by an expert. There are certain types of massage that effectively deal with chronic neck pain like a Swedish massage or certain stretches. This type of therapeutic massage relaxes the neck muscles in the body including muscles and tissues in the neck area. And since it’s a whole body massage, it also alleviates the pressure on other parts of the body besides the neck, especially the spine. This results in a relaxing feeling that deals with pain in your neck muscles specifically and prevent neck pain worsening.

Medical Management

If the tips mentioned above were of no help, then it’s time to seek medical attention. The best way to deal with your neck pain may be through chiropractic management. A doctor or trained chiropractor is capable of checking the cause of your pain and recommending medicines and other strategies to deal with it in the most effective way possible.

Reasons to Seek Medical Advice

Sometimes, chronic neck pain can be a sign of worse problems, such as injury to a nerve root or spinal cord. If there is a chance that you may be experiencing effects of spinal cord injury, such as symptoms in your head, arms, or legs, it’s important to find a way to resolve this rather than allowing it to continue and possibly worsen. If your neck pain is severe, have the area looked at. Don’t allow signs of a more serious cervical spine or nerve damage to go on unaddressed. You could be experiencing spinal related problems like bone spurs, herniated disks, or other issues related to the spine and bones.

Health Information to Provide

If you are going to a doctor or clinic for help with your pain, include any medical history and physical exam information related to the symptoms that you may need to provide so that doctor may best identify possible causes and treatment for the symptoms. Make sure you have include an accurate way of describing the pain you feel, whether you have dull pain, sharp pain, numbness or weakness, whether the pain only occurs when you stretch your neck, if the pain is located only in the neck or across your upper back and head as well, and so on.

Treatment to Relieve Neck Pain

Your doctor may recommend various treatment plans or solutions to use. This could range from muscle relaxants or prescribed pain relievers, strengthening exercises an physical therapy for your neck and back areas to help them recover better from any area that has been injured, the use of an ice pack or heating pad, or even simply over the counter pain relievers. Many of these OTC pain medications work well for treatment of pain in head or neck muscles and bones.

Change Lifestyle

Frequent neck pain experience could also be due to your lifestyle and a lack of overall health and wellness. Most likely, this will be one piece of advice your doctor may recommend when pain occurs. It’s time to invest in your health and fitness now before it’s too late. Taking proper care of your body matters and may have an effect on your health more than you realize.

Start exercising now and in general making any changes needed that causes you to live a healthy lifestyle. This can even include a change in your diet, posture, or other health related habits you use. Enjoying a healthy diet has lasting effects on the body’s overall health.

References and Sources:

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. List Outlines Gamers’ 15 Most Common Injuries and Ailments https://www.aaos.org/aaosnow/2020/aug/commentary/commentary02/

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Sex-related differences in Sports Medicine: Bone Health and Stress Fractures https://www.aaos.org/aaosnow/2019/sep/clinical/clinical01/

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. What About Whiplash? https://www.aaos.org/aaosnow/2020/jul/development/residency01/

Blog.Bible. Verses to Overcome a Health Crisis https://blog.bible/bible-blog/entry/5-stories-of-jesus-healing-the-sick

Bodysport. https://www.bodysportproducts.com

ComforTrac. https://comfortrac.net/

Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms

Medical News Today. Are Chiropractors Doctors? 5 Truths and Myths https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322038#certifications

Posture Pump. https://posturepump.com/

Pronex. https://www.rsmedical.com/pronex

Spine Health. 3 Ways to Improve Forward Head Posture https://www.spine-health.com/blog/ways-improve-forward-head-posture

Spine Health. 10 Tips to Prevent Neck Pain https://www.spine-health.com/blog/10-tips-prevent-neck-pain

Very Well Health. The 9 Best OTC Pain Relievers of 2021 https://www.verywellhealth.com/over-the-counter-pain-relievers-and-fever-reducers-770678

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