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Neck pain is one of the most frequent causes of visits to health care providers. Most commonly neck pain results from an acute trauma or chronic stress placed upon the muscles within the neck. Less frequently neck pain results from impingement of the nerves, which exit out of the spine within the neck. Anyone experiencing numbness, tingling, nausea, dizziness or changes in vision associated with their neck pain should be thoroughly evaluated to rule out cervical impingement of the nerves or blood vessels within the neck.
The most common cause of neck pain results from weakened muscles and poor posture. A forward head posture results in strain of the posterior muscles of the neck. This is commonly observed while driving, working on a computer, talking on a telephone or sitting at a desk. Having improper pillow support can also be a cause of neck pain. The pain is felt as a tight aching pain felt in the back of the neck and shoulders. Commonly this pain is felt as facial pain or a headache that comes up the back of the head to in and around the eyes. What is not frequently realized is that many of the muscles of the anterior neck control the jaw and tongue. Pain in these muscles can refer pain into the face, teeth and can feel like swollen glands or a lump in the throat. This can give the voice a hoarseness and cause difficulty in swallowing. Additionally, the nerve that innervates the jaw muscles and TMJ also commingles with the nerves of the neck. Therefore dysfunction within the neck structures commonly leads to problems within the jaw and vice versa.
Most treatments are aimed at encouraging the normal range of motion of the joints and muscles within the neck and decreasing the aggravating factors. Surgery is only indicated where there is clear evidence that a disc or vertebrae is out of place and causing the pain and dysfunction. Even then more conservative treatments should be attempted initially.
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