Neck Pain
Neck pain can be an irritating and life-disrupting issue if you don’t seek treatment. If you have frequent or constant neck pain but you’d like to avoid invasive treatments and surgery, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation has solutions for you. The experienced team offers an extensive menu of physical therapy services in their office in Downtown Washington, DC, so they can relieve your pain quickly. Call the office or click on the provided link now.
What causes neck pain?
Neck pain can happen for a wide range of reasons, but some of the most common include:
Disc damage
Your discs — the gel-filled cushioning pads between your spinal vertebrae — can cause serious neck pain if damaged.
A bulging disc occurs when age-related changes inside the disc force the outermost disc layer to bulge out, causing part or all of the disc to protrude beyond the vertebrae. This bulging can put pressure on nearby nerves, which then leads to neck pain.
Disc herniation occurs when the outermost layer of the disc develops a crack. This allows the gel-like disc nucleus to move out into the cervical spinal canal. A herniated disc can force disc material farther into the spinal canal than a bulging disc, which means it can cause even more nerve irritation and pain.
Poor posture
Poor neck posture, like frequently craning your neck or pushing your neck ahead of your shoulders, can severely stress and pressure your cervical spine and its support tissues.
For each inch that you push your head forward (in front of your shoulders), your cervical spine has to withstand an extra 10 pounds of weight. So, craning your neck a couple of inches forward to use a computer adds around 20-30 pounds of pressure on your cervical spine, and this added pressure can quickly lead to some serious neck pain.
Your neck muscles work hard to compensate for this extra pressure, but that can end up causing muscle strains and even more neck pain.
There are also other causes of neck pain, from sports injury to arthritis. No matter what causes your neck pain, a good therapy plan is essential to your recovery.
When should I seek help with my neck pain?
Most people finally seek help with neck pain when it causes issues with their daily life. If you have a constant crick in your neck or experience sharp pain when you look to the side, it can keep you from driving, working, and other necessary activities.
If neck pain causes significant daily disruptions, call Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation for help right away.
Of course, you don’t have to wait for neck pain to make you miserable before you get help. If you start treatment early, perhaps when you first notice stiffness or soreness, you can avoid the more serious pain and function problems.
How is neck pain treated?
Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation uses an individualized integrative approach to neck pain treatment. The team uses a wide variety of innovative cutting-edge approaches alongside traditional therapies for the maximum neck pain relief benefits. Your treatment may include:
Spinal mobilization or manipulation
Ice and heat therapy
Graston Technique®
Game Ready® cryotherapy
Trigger point dry needling (TDN)
Therapeutic ultrasound
Therapeutic massage
Electrical muscle stimulation or nerve stimulation
Custom orthotic inserts
Cupping
Pilates back program
Soft tissue mobilization
Passive range-of-motion exercises
Resistive range-of-motion exercises
Foam roller exercises
Additionally, the team offers comprehensive education about the cause of your neck pain, how you can make changes to avoid neck pain, and other essential information to guide you to a complete recovery.
To learn how you can stop neck pain for good without surgery, call Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation, or click the online scheduling link now.