Physio for neck pain is very helpful to reduce neck stiffness, headaches and referred shoulder and arm pain.
- Headaches – Can be caused by stiffness in the upper cervical neck joints and trigger points in the neck and shoulder muscles.
- Arthritis – Due to the shape of the facet joints, centre of rotation of the discs and the natural curve in the spine, the lower neck usually develops wear and tear arthritis. Although this is normal, arthritis can cause significant pain and stiffness in the neck. Physiotherapy mobilisations to restore joint movement and exercises to strengthen your neck and arms will help this pain significantly.
- Shoulders that are weak or have previously been injured – can cause neck pain. This is because if the shoulders are not strong enough to correctly lift and carry (children!) then the neck muscles are recruited to help the shoulders and arms. This, in turn, overloads the neck and causes pain and unrelenting muscle tightness.
- Shoulder Blade pain – With a stiff neck and a tendency to use the neck in forward flexion for most of the day people often feel a pain that runs down into the shoulder blade. Common activities you may feel this pain is with reading on a mobile, working on a laptop, cooking, baby activities, a long cycle or sitting slouched on a couch!
- Disc Pain – Nerve disc irritation can be extremely painful where neck movement is restricted, there is shooting pain in the arm and it is very difficult to sleep at night. Physiotherapy can help by mobilising joints, muscle release, advice regarding posture and exercise.
