What Causes Neck Pain?

 The neck is composed of multiple vertebrae, nerves, muscles, tendons and ligaments. When an injury, event or underlying condition affects one or more of these neck components, it can lead to neck pain, strain or tension.

There are two broad categories of neck pain: acute or chronic. Acute neck pain comes on suddenly and lasts a short amount of time. Chronic neck pain is persistent and lasts many weeks or months. Different factors cause each type of neck pain.

Common causes of neck pain include:

• Whiplash
• Physical injury or trauma
• Sports injury
• Poor posture
• Sleeping in an awkward position
• Repetitive motions

In more serious cases, neck pain is caused by an underlying degenerative condition like spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis or degenerative disc disease. These conditions are the result of wear and tear due to aging.

One of the most common contributors to neck pain is the weakening or tightening of neck muscles. This happens when the neck is out of alignment with the upper back. Tightness in the neck is common in office workers who are constantly straining their heads forward and down to look at their computer screens.

This throws the neck out of alignment and causes the shoulders and upper back to overcorrect for poor posture. The weaker the neck muscles become, the more it strains and hurts the neck and upper back.

What are the Symptoms of Neck Pain?

 Neck pain is usually felt at the intersection between the shoulders and upper back and up to base of the skull. In this affected area, you may feel neck pain symptoms like:

• Stiffness throughout your neck, including the back of your neck
• Soreness and tenderness throughout your neck
• Inability to move or turn your head
• Sharp pain on one side of your neck
• Numbness or tingling in your neck
• Radiating pain into your shoulders, back and/or arms

Self-Care Solutions for Neck Pain

 Self-care routines can be excellent complementary solutions for relieving your neck pain. By installing regular wellness practices, you can stretch out muscles, reduce neck pain and prevent ongoing issues. Additionally, wellness regimes improve overall psychological well-being, which can help you better manage pain and discomfort.

Here are some self-care and wellness solutions for managing chronic neck pain:

Ergonomic Work Solutions: One of the best ways to correct and prevent neck pain is to adjust your posture while you work. You can do this by regularly switching between sitting and standing positions. You can also correct improper neck alignment by elevating your monitor in-line with your vision. This prevents the neck from straining the head forward to look down at your computer screen.

Yoga: Yoga is a practice for strengthening and stretching out tight neck muscles. One study showed that a long-term yoga practice was effective in improving chronic neck pain among participants. Yoga also boosts emotional well-being, which can help manage the psychological effects of chronic neck pain.

Massage Therapy:Massage therapy is a holistic treatment that can loosen up tense neck muscles and alleviate pain. Specifically, deep tissue massage targets tight muscle knots in the neck that can be an underlying contributor to chronic neck pain.