Why is Neck Pain So Common?

Why is Neck Pain So Common?

Transcripts:
(00:00) Why is neck pain so common? Neck pain and back pain are the two primary reasons somebody seeks help in my office. The reason why it’s so common has to do with the relationship between flexibility and stability. Areas of the body that are generally more flexible are less stable and vice versa. The neck, as you know, has a whole host of range of motions.
(00:22) You can flex, you can extend, you can lateral flex, left and right, you can rotate. There’s a lot of different range of motions. You can flex, you can extend, you can lateral flex, left and right, you can rotate. There’s a lot of different range of motions involved, so there’s a lot of flexibility, just like the shoulder.
(00:34) The shoulder has the greatest range of motion at any joint in the body, and it’s one of the areas that’s most injured as far as an extremity is concerned. So the important thing to consider here is because of this increase in flexibility, then muscles can get injured very easily. This is why we have patients come into the office and say, Oh, I just, you know, I slept awkwardly on my neck or I was looking at my phone for an extended period of time.
(00:55) Because the muscles can get injured very easily, it’s an area that you need to keep flexible and strong. And when it’s injured, it’s very important that you don’t immobilize it and don’t use one of those neck collars. You want to move it. And that’s what we do when patients come into our office.
(01:14) We take an x-ray, we do an exam, and we find areas of restriction, restricted motion that’s created inflammation and limitations with the muscles. We put motion into those joints long enough for the body to heal, stabilize, and make a correction. The longer you wait to move it, the more stiff it’s going to get and the slower or more prolonged the actual disability will be. Very important to consider this when you’re injuring your neck either acutely or if it comes on gradually.
(01:39) Move it around, stretch it, flex it, extend it. All these things are very, very important. If you need help or if you have any other questions regarding this, shoot me a message, give me a call.