In some cases of persistent pain the cause of the pain (such as a facet joint or a disc) can be identified. How ever. it is important to realise that pain can sometimes continue even after the original cause (whiplash, facet or disc) has long since settled down. Pain may at first cause to avoid normal activities and movement. If your initial spell of neck pain lasts a long time, lack or activity can cause the neck muscles to become weak, and this reduces the ability of the cervical spine to take further knocks. You may also lose confidence in your ability to reksume your normal activities. This may affect your work, your social life and your personal relationships. Naturally, you may feel depressed and anxious in this situation and this could lead to further loss of confidence, frustration and anger, particularly if family members and the medical profession appear unhelpful or unsympathetic. If you are anxious or depressed as a result of the pain, you may not feel like exercising, so your muscles become weaker still, and so it goes on. This can happen to anyone, and the longer it continues the harder it will be for you to recover your movement and confidence. The sections that follow explain what can be done to prevent or break this cycle of pain.
1 comment:
In my experience as a physical therapist, most headaches and neck pain are due to the shoulder blades sitting too low on the trunk. I know this may sound odd but, to put it simply, there are muscles attaching from the shoulder blade directly to the first four neck vertebrae and skull. When the shoulders sit too low, these muscles then pull on the neck bones and skull causing neck pain and headaches.
Here's a quick, simple test to see if this is a contributing cause of your headaches. If you're having right-sided neck pain or headaches, raise your right hand and place it flat on top of your head for 20 seconds. Make sure your head doesn't side-bend or rotate to achieve this. If your pain diminished after this test, then your scapula may be sitting too low causing your discomfort. This is easily correctable. This is also the culprit in diagnoses such as thoracic outlet syndrome and carpal tunnel syndrome. I've just written a book about fixing neck pain and headaches using an approach based on this mechanical connection to the shoulder and neck. It has been very effective over the last few years and I think is worth a try if you haven’t found the answers you are seeking.
I’ve also posted this and another test on YouTube, if you’re interested.
Rick Olderman
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