Neck Pain

Most people experience neck pain and stiffness sometimes because that part of your spine is less well protected. If you have new or existing neck pain, visit Mohamed Hablas, DPT, and the expert team at Outreach Manual Physical Therapy PC in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach neighborhood. They have extensive experience helping people with neck pain problems ranging from whiplash injuries to bulging discs. Call the New York City office or request a consultation online today to benefit from the team’s expertise in treating neck pain.

What causes neck pain?

Neck pain has numerous causes, common ones being:

Muscle strains

Poor neck posture, keeping your head in the same position for too long, and making repetitive movements can strain your neck muscles. Examples include sitting at a desk all day, extended periods of driving, and sleeping with your neck bent. 

Tension

Tension in the neck muscles from stress and anxiety is a frequent cause of neck pain and headaches.

Cervical radiculopathy

Cervical radiculopathy occurs when swollen, thickened, or misaligned tissues pinch or irritate the spinal nerves in the neck’s cervical vertebrae. Arthritis, degenerative disc disease, and herniated discs can all cause cervical radiculopathy. In addition to pain, you may experience numbness, tingling, or weakness in your arms and shoulders.

Acute injuries

The most common acute neck injury is whiplash. It occurs when your head moves forcibly back and forth, stretching and sometimes tearing the neck’s soft tissues. Rear-end car accidents often cause whiplash, and it’s also a common sports injury.

How is neck pain diagnosed?

To diagnose neck pain, the Outreach Manual Physical Therapy PC team evaluates your symptoms and medical history before conducting a comprehensive physical exam. They might complete a postural analysis and an ergonomic work or school environment assessment. You might also need X-rays or other diagnostic imaging to see inside your neck.

The information your therapist gathers enables them to design a customized treatment program tailored to your exact needs.

Is physical therapy helpful for neck pain?

One of the primary neck pain treatments is physical therapy. It’s a safe and effective way of realigning the tissues, promoting healing, strengthening the neck, and keeping it flexible. Depending on what’s caused your neck pain and how severely it affects you, your physical therapy program might include:

• Manual therapies
• Stretching and strengthening exercises
• Hot and cold therapies
• Therapeutic massage
• Trigger point therapy
• Therapeutic ultrasound

These treatments help reduce inflammation, which is often neck pain’s root cause. They also encourage better blood flow to the neck tissues, delivering oxygen and growth factors your body needs to repair the damage.

Some patients with more severe or persistent neck pain might benefit from an epidural steroid injection. These injections contain a powerful anti-inflammatory steroid medication and a local anesthetic. Using image guidance, your provider injects the drugs into the epidural space next to your spinal cord.

Call Outreach Manual Physical Therapy PC or book an appointment online today for first-class neck pain treatment.