Neck pain that doesn’t resolve on its own can significantly impact your life. Whether triggered by muscular tension, injury, nerve impedance, or other issues, it can hurt your ability to function and feel normal.
Don’t go about your day with significant pain in your neck. The physical therapy experts at Optimum Health Rehab Woodstock are here to help.
Call us at (770) 516-7477 or contact us online to schedule your initial consultation.
Experts in Neck Pain Treatment
People sometimes wake up with a kink in their neck because they “slept wrong” or find that after performing back exercises at the gym, they strained their necks due to improper form. Unfortunately, neck pain happens to most adults at some point in their lives, but it typically goes away within a few days.
Neck pain can become chronic when there are more serious causes that lead to discomfort. To make matters worse, the pain can significantly impact your quality of life, work, and ability to manage your usual responsibilities.
Finding an expert team to address your neck pain is not as easy as it sounds. Treating neck pain means finding where the pain is coming from and targeting it rather than just addressing the symptoms that are giving you pain.
Our Woodstock team at Optimum Health Rehab is ready to show you how we can help.
Our physical therapists and staff have years of experience handling similar cases that have ended with positive results. We are determined to find the root cause of pain and create a treatment program to tackle it at its very source.
Adults Commonly Suffer from Pain in the Neck
Neck pain is hardly a stranger to most adults. Each year, at least 30%-50% of adults across the U.S. complain about neck pain varying in severity at some point.
With the increased use of technology, the human body endures more risks than ever before, from injuries in car accidents, age, using cell phones, sedentary lifestyles, bad posture, and injuries from physical training in sports.
Neck pain has increased significantly over the last couple of decades, and it is not showing any signs of slowing down. Many clients who experience neck pain find that it is from injury and strain.
Meanwhile, although seen much less commonly, some clients experience pain because of an undiagnosed growth or cyst that is affecting the nerves and muscles of the neck.
Finding a Diagnosis for Your Neck Pain
The human spine is built with vertebrae, which help the spine move and protect the central nervous system.
Human vertebrae are supported with attached tendons, joints, ligaments, and muscles. Any kind of injury or strain to any of these supporting parts can lead to pain in the neck and in the surrounding areas, like the shoulders and upper back
Connecting with a physical therapist who is an expert in neck pain management is often the most important step to getting started on feeling better.
During your initial consultation with our team, your provider will speak with you regarding your medical history and ask that you complete a physical to assess your range of motion, strength, and overall fitness. You will discuss your levels of pain, where you are feeling discomfort when it began, and what you have done previously to help remedy the symptoms.
During your consultation, your provider may choose to complete multiple tests, including:
- Learning about your medical history.
- Completing a physical exam.
- Performing imaging tests.
- Completing electrodiagnostic tests.
- Performing lab tests.
What Kind of Imaging Testing is Used in a Neck Pain Diagnosis?
Unlike other ailments, those suffering from neck pain may not need any imaging completed to identify the source of their pain. However, your provider may opt to complete imaging if there is any suspicion that the cause of your pain is more serious than is physically visible.
If your provider chooses to complete imaging testing, they may perform one or a combination of the following:
- X-ray — X-ray scans show the parts of your body that are high in calcium levels, like your bones. If there are any issues with your bones in the neck or surrounding soft tissues, it can help determine the root cause of your neck pain. More specifically, if there are any breaks, fractures, or dislocations, it can help capture an image of these injuries.
- Computerized Tomography (CT Scan) — A CT scan allows providers to get a better understanding of any injuries. These scans may be common for clients who recently had a sports injury or were in a car accident that resulted in severe neck pain. The results of your scan will be able to show the bones of the neck and head, muscles, blood vessels, and any organs that are within the imaging area.
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) — An MRI can show further details of the neck and spine that can indicate injury. If there is anything showing injury with your nerves, bone marrow, or soft tissues, the MRI scan will be able to pick it up and show in your results.
Understanding Neck Pain Symptoms
Neck pain can easily come from injuries and strain in parts of the neck aside from bones. Since the neck is a complex structure of the body, it takes a lot of ligaments, tendons, and muscles to move the head and neck successfully.
When there is an injury to any of these parts of the body, there is a high chance that you will experience neck pain — and in some cases so severe that completing daily tasks will be impossible.
While there are multiple causes of neck pain that can affect clients differently, more commonly, clients report pain that:
- Amplifies when sitting in a particular position for an extended period of time. The pain will gradually worsen as the person holds the same position while driving or asleep.
- Creates debilitating headaches that prevent the person from completing daily tasks and working.
- Limits mobility, especially when turning the head and neck in specific angles and directions.
- Creates muscle tightness and spasms in the neck and surrounding muscles, leading to discomfort and pain.
Advanced Age Often Contributes to Neck Pain
Losing flexibility and strength as one gets older is normal. But pain starts when the neck and joints are overused, and clients develop what is called osteoarthritis.
This condition is degenerative and describes the loss of the cushion between joints in many parts of the human body. Most older adults are diagnosed with osteoarthritis in their hands, knees, and shoulders, but seeing it in the neck is also possible.
The pain caused by this medical condition worsens over time as the person faces limiting movements that further exacerbate the condition. However, with our treatment program, clients often find that they can manage their symptoms better with a combination of the stretches, exercises, and treatments that are administered in our Woodstock location.
Neck Pain as a Sign of a More Serious Condition
Cases of neck pain can usually be traced back to a singular source, but there are some rare cases where the client has a more complex underlying medical condition. Cases where neck pain is combined with sharp pain that shoots up and down their extremities can be a sign of a life-threatening condition.
Neck pain may also be accompanied by intense headaches or the appearance of strange sensations, like numbness and tingling, in other parts of the body. Those experiencing these symptoms should immediately seek medical attention, as their condition might be linked to another medical condition that manifests as neck pain.
A Custom Chronic Neck Pain Treatment Made Just for You
The treatment to address neck pain is not the same for everyone. Depending on your diagnosis, the severity of the pain, and the root cause of your pain, your provider at Optimum Health Rehab will focus on creating a custom treatment program that will be tailored to your needs.
Patients can expect to see one or a combination of these types of treatment in their custom program:
- Exercises and stretching — Helps strengthen supporting muscles and maintain stability and mobility
- Joint bracing and taping — Applied to support weaker areas of the body until they heal
- Manual adjustments — Adjustments made to realign, decrease pain, and increase the range of motion of the area
Visit One of Our Georgia Clinics for Neck Pain Management
Let Optimum Health Rehab Woodstock Help with Your Neck Pain
Going throughout your day with excruciating pain in the neck can have significant impacts on your quality of life. In the worst cases, neck pain can go as far as preventing someone from completing normal tasks like turning their head to see when they are driving, working out, and even getting a good night’s sleep.
You do not have to live in pain if there is something that you can do about it. Our team of physical therapists in Woodstock is ready to help you address your pain and feel better.
Do not let neck pain change the way you go about your day. If you are ready to do something about your neck pain, give us a call at (770) 516-7477 or contact us online to schedule your first consultation.