Neck Pain

Neck pain can give rise to pain in the shoulder blades or down the arms and requires specific assessment to identify the cause. The symptoms of neck pain include:

• Stiffness or difficulty to turn your head
• Pain if you read or look down for long periods of time
• Headaches, shoulder blade pain
• Dizziness or short term vision disturbance

Neck pain can arise from many different sources around the neck including ligaments, facet joints, discs and nerves. Neck pain is often caused from prolonged postures of your head (as it is heavy) and places excessive load on these soft tissues as they try to support you in your daily tasks.

• In the acute phase, rest from aggravating activity (no prolonged postures with head forward or turning)
• Taping from your Physiotherapist to improve your spine’s posture in the early stage. Learn correct posture of how to unload your neck
• Placing a lumbar roll behind you back while sitting (lengthways or across your spine to assist in straightening your neck)
• Gentle exercises to strengthen your neck and improve your necks posture