Neck pain usually comes from strained muscles, worn joints or posture, and most of the time it does not signal anything serious. Sudden numbness, weakness or trouble speaking means call 911. Pain that spreads into an arm, or has not eased after a few days, should be checked by a health professional.
What Your Neck Does All Day
Your neck holds up a head that weighs about 10 pounds, with less protection than the rest of your spine. A slouch over a laptop, a phone held low or a long drive can be enough to leave it stiff.
The harder question is whether you have a tired muscle, an irritated nerve or something that needs the ER today.
Understanding Neck Pain
Neck pain is pain in or around the part of the spine just below your head, called the cervical spine. It is a symptom of many injuries and illnesses. It can stay in the neck or shoot into the shoulders or arms, and how long it lasts depends on the cause.
Doctors also sort it by timing. Acute neck pain lasts from days to six weeks. Chronic neck pain lasts longer than three months.
Who gets it more often
- Adults over 40
- Women
- People who move their neck the same way over and over at work or at play
- People who smoke
When another illness is behind it
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Meningitis
- Cancer
- A cyst or other growth pressing on a nerve
Is It a Muscle or a Nerve?
Doctors separate pain felt mostly in the neck from pain that shoots elsewhere. The second pattern is often a pinched nerve in the neck, which doctors call cervical radiculopathy. These lists can point you in a direction, and an exam and sometimes tests are how a provider tells the two apart.
More likely a muscle
- Pain that stays mostly in the neck
- Tight muscles or spasms
- Pain that builds when your head stays in one position, as at a computer
- Stiffness across the shoulders and upper back
More likely a nerve
- Pain beginning in the neck that runs down one arm
- A burning or sharp feeling
- More pain when you turn your head or tilt it back
- Pins and needles in a hand or the fingers
- Numbness, or weakness in the arm, shoulder or hand
Cleveland Clinic calls the first pattern axial neck pain and the second radicular neck pain.
Numbness, tingling or weakness calls for urgent medical care, so do not wait on those.
How Neck Pain Can Feel
- A steady ache
- Stabbing or burning pain
- Pain that shoots into a shoulder or arm
- Trouble turning your head or tilting it
- Muscle tightness or spasms
- A headache along with the neck pain
- Numbness or tingling in the shoulders or arms, which needs urgent care
Where Neck Pain Comes From
Posture and screens
Slouching or looking down moves the weight of your head forward. That loads the muscles, joints and discs of the neck, and the strain adds up over time.
Stress and tight muscles
Many people clench their neck muscles when stressed and only notice once the area starts to hurt.
Injury
A crash that throws the head forward and back can hurt the soft tissues of the neck, which is known as whiplash. Falls and sports injuries can hurt it too.
Worn joints and discs
Neck joints wear down with age. Arthritis can make them sore and hard to move, and the spaces inside the spine can narrow, a change called spinal stenosis.
A disc or bone spur on a nerve
A bulging disc or a bone spur can press on a nearby nerve. The pain may then spread into an arm.
Mayo Clinic points to a recent study tying more than six hours a day of sitting still to a higher chance of neck pain.
How We Treat Neck Pain in Towson
Care starts with finding out where the pain is coming from. Depending on your condition, either of these may be recommended once our comprehensive evaluation is done.
Chiropractic
A chiropractic exam may look for the source of your neck pain and go over your options. Adjustments, which apply a controlled force to a joint in the spine, can be one of those options.
Class IV Laser Therapy
This uses a noninvasive handheld device that gives off light. It may be considered for neck pain that has become chronic.
To see if you are a candidate for gentle chiropractic treatment, the chiropractor carefully evaluates your condition. If you have numbness, tingling or weakness, it is carefully screened with orthopedic and neurologic testing, to isolate the cause and how your symptoms present.
Ways to Manage Neck Pain, Compared
This is not a full list of options. Your doctor or a spine specialist can tell you about others.
| Option | What it involves | Who provides it |
|---|---|---|
| Home care | Heat or a cold pack for short stretches, with cold first right after an injury. Breathing exercises or yoga can ease tension. | You, with advice from your doctor |
| Medicine | Cleveland Clinic calls anti-inflammatory drugs and muscle relaxants common first treatments. | Your doctor or pharmacist |
| Exercise program | Movements that strengthen the neck and improve flexibility. Cleveland Clinic says not to try neck exercises at home if you have a pinched nerve or a serious neck injury. | A provider your doctor recommends |
| Massage or acupuncture | Hands-on work to loosen tight muscles, or fine needles. | A massage therapist or acupuncturist |
| Chiropractic adjustments | Hands-on work on a joint in the spine. | A chiropractor here, if recommended |
| Class IV laser therapy | Light from a handheld device. | This clinic, if recommended |
| Surgery | Cleveland Clinic says most causes of neck pain do not require it. It can be needed when a vertebra has shifted or something presses on nerves. | A spine surgeon |
When Neck Pain Is an Emergency
Call 911 for neck pain with sudden numbness or weakness in your face, arm or leg, trouble speaking or seeing, loss of balance or a sudden severe headache. These can be signs of a stroke. Go to the ER for severe neck pain after a crash, a dive or a fall.
If you think it is a stroke, do not drive to the hospital or let someone drive you. An ambulance crew can start treatment on the way.
Get urgent medical care for neck pain with
- Loss of bladder or bowel control
- Weak legs, or poor coordination in an arm or leg
- Numb or tingling arms, shoulders or legs
- Fever, a headache and a stiff neck together
- Chills, fever or weight loss you cannot explain
- Dizziness, nausea, vomiting or a headache
- Pain that stays the same whether you move or keep still
Call a health professional for neck pain that
- Is very painful or intense
- Has not improved after a few days
- Spreads into an arm or leg
- Does not ease with over-the-counter medicine
- Gets in the way of work or daily activities
The CDC says the stroke treatments that work best are available only if the stroke is recognized and diagnosed within 3 hours of the first symptoms.
Seeing Us on E Joppa Rd
Chiropractic care and Class IV laser therapy are both offered at this clinic. A health history and physical assessment may come first. If the problem turns out to be outside what this team treats, a referral elsewhere is possible.
Near Fellowship Forest and Greenbrier
Fellowship Forest and Greenbrier are both nearby, each about 0.6 miles from the clinic, the first to the southwest and the second to the west. Towson University is about 1.6 miles west.
Book a Neck Pain Evaluation
Providers often ask about past neck injuries and your work, along with when the pain began and how intense it gets. For insurance or cost questions, call the clinic.