Neck Pain Problem
Pain and impairment of the neck is common. It is estimated that 22% – 70% of populations will have neck pain sometimes in their lives. In addition, it has been suggested that the incidence of neck pain is increasing.
Neck pain usually goes away within a few days or weeks, but pain that persists for months could signal an underlying medical cause that needs to be addressed. In some cases, early intervention may be necessary for the best results. Neck pain eventually reported poor quality of life, low work quality and causing disturbance in sleep.
Sign and Symptoms of Neck Pain
Signs and symptoms include:
- Pain that’s often worsened by holding your head in one place for long periods, such as when driving or working at a computer
- Muscle tightness and spasms
- Decreased ability to move your head
- Headache
- Numbness up to arm and hand
- Soreness at neck area
- Sharp pain on neck movement
Causes Of Neck Pain
Many things can cause your neck to hurt:
- Poor posture
- Repetitive motion
- Bad sleep habits
- Carrying a heavy shoulder bag or purse
- Pinched nerves
- Sports or other injuries
- Car accidents involving whiplash
- A fractured or collapsed vertebra, which can be related to osteoporosis
- A slipped (herniated) disk
Risk Of Having Neck Pain
The prevalence of neck pain in sedentary working status especially office worker is very high due to their quality of work lifestyle and non-ergonomic work station setting.
- Elongated working hours at computer
- Prolonged in sitting or standing position
- Static posture
- Older age
- Longer employment (for office workers)
- Previous neck problem
How Physiotherapist Can Help
A physiotherapist can help you by:
- Reduce the pain using pain management protocol
- Teach on how to correct posture, and alignment of body
- Teach for neck-strengthening exercises, mobility neck exercise and stretching neck exercise
- Dry needling to help relax the muscles strain
- Modalities to assist in pain management
Modification To Prevent From Neck Pain
- Adjust the level of computer at workplace to eye level
- Use neck resting pillow at workplace
- Use proper pillow during sleeping , make sure neck in neutral position
- Practise a correct posture during sitting or standing
- Take a break every one hour to rest the body, neck and eyes from computer screen and for muscle relaxation.
