What components constitute the neck?
Your neck may be relatively small, but it’s an incredibly complex area that performs a number of critical functions, including:
- Supporting your head
- Acting as a conduit for your nervous system
- Enabling blood flow to your brain
To help accomplish these tasks, your neck is made up of seven small vertebrae. Surrounding these vertebrae are a host of soft tissue components, such as:
- Discs
- Ligaments
- Muscles
- Tendons
These supportive tissues enable support and range of motion in your neck, but they’re also vulnerable to wear-and-tear and injury.
What are the most common causes of neck pain?
Your neck is an extremely active area, and neck pain can crop up for any number of reasons, including:
- Muscle strain, including whiplash
- Arthritis
- Degenerative disc disease
- Spinal stenosis
- Herniated disc
Muscle strain is the most common complaint when it comes to neck pain, but, thankfully, these episodes are often acute. Chronic neck pain, on the other hand, typically develops on the heels of an injury or when the musculoskeletal components of your neck are subjected to wear-and-tear.
How does neck pain present itself?
While pain is the most obvious symptom that something is amiss in your neck, a problem in your neck can come with other symptoms, including:
- Stiffness in your neck
- Pain that radiates down your arms
- Numbness or tingling that radiates down your arms (cervical radiculopathy)
- Headaches
- Total or partial loss of use of your upper extremities
It’s important to understand that sometimes a problem with numbness or tingling in your hand may actually indicate a problem in your neck.
What are the treatments for neck pain?
When you come in, Dr. Tsoi and the team at Advanced Wellness & Musculoskeletal Pain Clinic thoroughly assess your symptoms and your medical history to determine the exact cause of your neck pain. They also rely on advanced imaging to take a closer look at what’s going on inside your neck.
Once they identify the source of your neck pain, their goal is to help you find much-needed relief without simply covering up the problem using medications. To do this, the team offers a number of innovative treatments, including:
- Epidural spinal injections
- Trigger point injections
- Sarapin injections
- Spinal cord stimulation
- Radiofrequency ablation
- Cervical blocks
- Acupuncture
- PRP (platelet-rich plasma)
- Stem cell injections
The team typically starts out conservatively, only getting more aggressive should your neck pain persist.
To find relief from neck pain, call Advanced Wellness & Musculoskeletal Pain Clinic, or request an appointment online today.
