Chronic neck pain

Chronic neck pain is something that can affect your work and personal life. If you have been suffering with neck pain for greater than three months, you would be categorized as having "chronic" neck pain. You don't need to suffer any more!

Neck pain can be caused by several different things including muscle spasms, joint restrictions in your neck or upper back, weakness in your neck or shoulder blade muscles, a disc herniation, or arthritis in your neck. Neck pain can also be associated with your posture or work station. If you are experiencing any of the above issues, you should contact a physical therapist. They will be able to evaluate you by taking you through a series of tests and measures, along with functional tests to determine why you are suffering.

Your physical therapist will then develop an individualized exercise plan to address your areas of weakness and joint restriction. These exercises will help you achieve proper posture in order to avoid forward head position and rounding of your upper back. The physical therapist will also help educate you on the proper work station set-up. Ideally, your wrists are below the elbow, the computer screen is in front of you, feet are flat on the floor and knees are below the hips.

In addition to an exercise routine and education on proper body mechanics, your physical therapist will perform manual therapy on you. Manual therapy is when the physical therapist stretches your muscles and assists your joints to move. Research has shown that if your upper back is moving well, this will decrease the strain to the neck muscles and joints, decreasing your neck pain and improving your quality of life. The combination of both exercise and manual therapy can help reduce your neck pain symptoms, reduce your sick leave from work, reduce the need for pain medication, and improve your ability to function at home and at work!

Give Pinnacle Physical Therapy a call today! We want to know how long have you been suffering with neck pain and what position seems to really cause you the most discomfort. We can schedule a pain screen where the physical therapist can evaluate your condition and determine if physical therapy is best for you. We have two locations, one in Post Falls (208) 777-4242 or Coeur d'Alene (208) 665-2000.

- Pinnacle Physical Therapy