Causes of neck pain
NECK PAIN is common to all people and is affected at some point of their lives. It can be caused by many different things, but most often neck pain is the result of staying too long with your neck in one position or a strain or sprain.
On the other hand, worry or stress, sleeping awkwardly, accident (whiplash) or flaring-up of the cervical spondylosis that happens as the discs and joints in the spine age, is contributory to neck pain.
Although we can manage short spells of neck pain through taking in pain killers and gentle stretches, it is also sensible to see a doctor or a therapist if pain persists or affects your everyday activities.
Commonly experienced symptoms are pain and stiffness in the neck which occurs together that limits the normal turn of the neck to either side, it may be painful to move and your muscles may feel tight.
Numbness or tingling that causes numbness, pins and needles or tingling that can be felt down your arms and sometimes even the fingers. Another is a clicking or grating sound which you can hear when moving your head. This is called crepitus, and is caused by bony surfaces moving against each other or by ligaments moving over the bone.
Neck pain may also be caused by muscle
spasms that turn the neck to one side and prevent you looking in the other direction, this is called acute wry neck, and though not very common it can also be unpleasant. Dizziness and blackout may also happen as you look up or turn your head, this is due to the pinching of the vertebrae arteries. This can sometime happen as a result of changes in the vertebrae.
Pinching in the vertebral arteries can occasionally cause blackouts as the blood flow is temporarily reduced. However, this kind of dizziness can have other causes and is best to seek medical help if the problem carries on. Other symptoms is when you have a long-lasting neck pain and stiffness, particularly if your sleep is disturbed, then you may feel excessively tired that you may start to feel rather down and low in mood.
Many people also develop a stiff and painful neck for no obvious reasons. It may happen after sitting in a draught or a minor twisting injury, this are called non-specific neck pain and the most common type of neck pain that disappears after a few days, provided you keep gently moving your neck and rest when you need to.