NECK PAIN
NECK PAIN
Neck pain can come in a variety of forms. Some neck pain can come from tight soft tissue and muscle restrictions that can limit your range of motion and “pinch” a nerve causing pain. Other neck pain can be a little more complicated involving the cervical spine including Cervical Stenosis, Disk Herniation, or Painful Entrapment
Cervical Stenosis
Cervical Stenosis is a narrowing of the cervical spinal canal. This narrowing of the spinal canal may result in compression of the spinal cord and/or the nerve roots and affect the function of the spinal cord or the nerve, which may cause symptoms associated with cervical radiculopathy or cervical myelopathy.
Cervical Radiculopathy
Cervical radiculopathy is a disease process marked by nerve compression from herniated disk material or arthritic bone spurs. This impingement typically produces neck and radiating arm pain or numbness, sensory deficits, or motor dysfunction in the neck and upper extremities.
Disk Herniation
Disk Herniation is a displacement of disc material (nucleus pulposus or annulus fibrosis) beyond the intervertebral disc space that can place pressure on the nerve root creating pain in the neck as well as pain, numbing, and tingling that can travel down the arm.
Painful Entrapment
Painful Entrapment is when some of the tissue that surrounds the joint where the vertebrae come together gets trapped inside that joint space and is very painful especially with certain movements. This is a stabbing knife-like pain that can be quite intense. Many people that have this issue will say it feel like a “pinched nerve”.
How We Treat:
A combination of Manual Therapy along with specific therapeutic exercise is very effective in correcting these types of injuries and dysfunctions. We pay special attention to the soft tissue as well as the joints in the neck to make sure that the problem is resolved. In some cases, with Stenosis, depending on the severity this might need some more invasive procedures including surgery.