Do you have Neck pain in north finchley?
Neck pain can really be a pain in the…well…neck.
Our neck serves many functions that are essential to our health and wellbeing. It keeps our head on our shoulders, provides a third of our entire spine’s movement, connects our brain to the rest of our body, gives the nerves to the arms and hands, encapsulates the blood vessels and nerves to the brain as well as our airways and oesophagus. And it does much more.
All that being said, it’s no wonder why neck ache can be so darn painful, annoying and cause loads more issues such as arm pain and headaches.
Do you have Neck Pain in North Finchley? Read on!
Why does neck pain happen?
Simply put, pain is complex.
Pain is a multifactorial sensation.
That means that anyone in pain at any point will likely have numerous factors that are contributing. There isn’t always one known cause, but there are often a few things that are playing a part.
How many times have you looked over one of your shoulders in your life? Thousands? Hundreds of thousands? So why did it suddenly become acutely painful that one time you were checking your passenger-side wing-mirror? Are you broken? No. Damaged? Highly unlikely. It usually hurts due to sensitivity; something that happens in your nervous system for multiple reasons such as stress, reduced sleep, altered movement patterns or demands, poor hydration etc.
It’s never as easy as it may seem to give one reason why someone may suffer from neck pain.
If you have Neck Pain in North Finchley our Osteopath can put the pieces together and find out why YOU neck hurts.
what about if i slept funny on it?
Have you ever woken up with a sore neck and said ‘I slept funny’? This isn’t actually true…although you may have woken up in a slightly twisted or funky position, it doesn’t mean that’s why it hurts. There’s actually no scientific evidence that any sleeping position correlates with neck pain. If you’ve slept well for 7-9 hours, it’s highly unlikely that position was bad for you. If it was, your brain would have either sub-consciously moved you in the night or woken you up and asked you to move.
So similar to what I said in the previous paragraph, if you’ve woken up with a sore neck it’s highly unlikely that it was the sleeping position that caused it.
Perhaps you did your first workout in a while the day before, maybe you went out dancing and didn’t get much sleep, maybe you’re particularly stressed…it could be a whole host of reasons, just don’t blame your sleeping position.
Think about it the opposite way: how many times have you woken up in a twisted, ‘weird’ position and NOT had neck pain? Probably absolutely loads, right? If it was a CAUSE then you would have pain every time.
the pandemic
I don’t want to bang on about the pandemic for too long, but it has certainly given us two new things to contend with:
Firstly, a constant state of stress and high-tension. You aren’t alone if you’ve felt like the last couple of years have been exhausting and stressful, and our bodies feel this in the same way. Stress in complicated but it can directly cause you pain, or at least increase the likelihood of suffering from pain.
And secondly, ‘working from home.’ Hybrid working is the new normal, and when we work from home we typically work at a different desk space and often don’t move as much as if we had a commute to a busy office. I’ve written another piece on the trials and tribulations of working from home, so be sure to check that out after!
Diagnosing neck pain
OK so as you probably expect if you’ve got this far, diagnosing neck pain is also complicated and multi-factorial.
The first thing you may want to know is that the overwhelming majority of neck pain is NOT dangerous. Most of the time it does not need scans, medical attention or surgery, and can usually be managed conservatively to get good results within a matter of weeks or months.
Because of the complexity of the surrounding areas, the diagnosis depends on the results of a comprehensive case history and physical examination. Some people suffer with headaches, pain down the arm, pins and needles or numbness in the hand alongside their neck pain. Some people come to clinic complaining of acute pain for 2 days, some have an ache for years.
We take all these things into consideration, perform numerous tests in order to reach the tissue that’s causing your symptoms, as well as why that may be.
When you have Neck Pain in North Finchley, feel free to come on in for a full consultation to get the answers you crave for your neck pain!
neck pain Treatment
Osteopathy can be incredibly effective in the treatment of neck pain.
We use a combination of lifestyle advice, hands-on manual therapy and exercise rehabiltation.
The advice will include what you should and shouldn’t worry about, what you can do to help yourself while at work or when enjoying hobbies, what sort of activities to avoid, it depends!
The hands-on treatment involves massage, stretching, manipulation and looking further afield to the shoulders/back to take the pressure away, it depends!
Rehabilitation is always bespoke and can include stretching, movements, strengthening exercises and a load more-it depends!
Put your mind at ease
Taking all of these things into account, including how different things contribute to neck pain and how everyone is different, it’s important you know that we manage everyone differently with a bespoke treatment plan!
If you present with anything that requires further medical attention, we’ll refer you to the right place.
If you come very worried, we’ll put you at ease whenever we can.
And if you just need some treatment and some stretching, then we can do that, no problem.
Get in touch!
If you have neck pain any any of this blog has resonated with you, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
You can e-mail, message, or WhatsApp me personally, book in online or grab your free 15-minute discovery call whenever you like!
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