Neck Pain

Neck pain is a very common condition – it is estimated that the 1-year incidence ranges from 10.4% to 21.3%. Interestingly, it is more common in office and computer workers, women, and in the 35 to 49 years old age range (after which the incidence goes down).

Symptoms of neck pain include pain and/or stiffness in your neck, restrictions to your range of motion, and headaches. Please see your health care practitioner for further assessment if:

• Your pain is severe,
• Has other symptoms associated with it (severe headache, dizziness, fever, chills, weight loss, loss of bowel or bladder control, weakness/loss of coordination in arm(s) or leg(s)),
• Causes numbness, tingling, or pain in your arm(s),
• Is the result of an accident, fall, or trauma, or,
• Isn’t improving.

We classify neck pain in a few different ways depending on the suspected source of pain. You may have pain primarily from one category, but you can also have pain from multiple categories.

• Facetogenic neck pain implies the pain is coming from the joints. Pain is usually worse with looking up or turning/side bending to the painful side.
• Discogenic pain refers to pain coming from the discs in between the vertebrae. This pain is usually worse with bending your neck forward. This can often have nerve pain associated with it.
• Radicular pain refers to pain that is coming from your nerves. This pain usually will travel down your arm, sometimes worse in your arm than your neck.
• Myofascial neck pain refers to pain originating from the muscles, joints, and ligaments of the neck. The can cause pain with many directions of neck movement depending on what is affected, especially bending forwards, to the side or turning.

Regardless of the source, exercise has been shown that it can be beneficial for all types of neck pain. Current clinical practice guidelines recommend exercise in the conservative management of neck pain. The Cochrane review on neck pain and exercise (a high-quality synthesis of all available research in the area) consistently shows a positive effect of exercise on neck pain. Often these studies include exercise as part of a multi-modal treatment approach. However, studies where exercise was the only intervention show a similar positive benefit.

Another important consideration for neck pain is posture. One of the main functions of the neck is to support the head (which weighs approximately 10 to 12 lbs.) when standing in neutral. However, with your neck bending forward 60 degrees, the force the head applies to the neck increases to 60 lbs. Trying to improve your posture is important.

The Physio Fixes program will provide a comprehensive evidence-based exercise program to help with your neck pain, targeting:

• Neck muscular stability and strength
• Soft tissue tightness and flexibility
• Postural strength and control
• Proprioception

Follow the Physio Fixes program to see how we can help you!