Get Faster Relief from Neck Pain with Physical Therapy

Physical Therapy Little Neck, NY

In the way of living our regular lives, there are lots of situations where you could find yourself in a situation where you put yourself at risk of pain or injury.  It’s not compulsory that it has to be a serious event. But it could be something like falling down the stairs or slipping on an icy sidewalk or you could twitch your neck from consuming too much time seeming at a computer monitor at work.

When you are injured, you are doing everything possible to recover from injury.  Especially, if the injury is to your neck, you want to get relief in a short time. Physical Therapy Little Neck, NY can diagnose your pain and suggest the best solutions that will keep your pain from getting more serious.

If you are suffering from neck pain, then you can understand just how painful it can be to maintain doing the things that you did every day while dealing with this pain. When it comes to handling your neck pain, there are a lot of questions that you should consider, but the one thing that you should compulsory consider is taking physical therapy for neck pain.

Expert physical therapist is an essential source for anyone who has been suffering from neck pain. They can suggest required changes to your daily life that will help to define the amount of effort that you put on your neck, and that will also help you reduce the risks of this occurring again in future. After surgery, physical therapy provides to permanent pain control and recovery.

Physical therapy services for neck pain include stress, ultrasound, TENS and other such remedial modalities, heat and ice treatment, postural improvement, joint mobilization and exercise. Neck exercises carried out along with physical therapy can make pain relief more efficient.

In fact, physical therapy and exercising are mainstream non-surgical treatment choices for neck pain. What executes certain non-surgical choices beneficial when associated to current approach is that they can also prevent the pain from repeating or at least decrease the cases of pain in the future.

Signs, Types and Treatment of Physical Therapy for Neck Pain

The neck bears a considerable amount of weight; as much as one-seventh of the body’s weight! It’s one of the most unrestrained body parts but pain in this area can limit our range severely. Many people try to alleviate their symptoms by taking pain killers; however, this does not stop the pain from returning. Instead, the best solution is to locate and treat the underlying problem and physical therapy is great in doing just that.

Physical Therapy for Neck Pain

Signs and Symptoms

Neck pain can affect any age group and it ranges from a dull ache to a sharp, intense pain. In more severe cases, it can travel to the arms, shoulders, upper back, chest, and head. In fact, the most common complaint is pain occurring in the form of a headache.

Neck problems can also prevent movement because of muscle stiffness, tenderness, and tension. This can limit our participation in activities of daily living such as looking down to read a book and turning our head to look behind our shoulders.

Types of Neck Pain

The source of most neck pain is strained neck muscles. People can place stress onto the area with the most simplest of actions. Common ways that cause strains, sprains, or spasms include poor posture, looking down at your phone, carrying a heavy bag, and sleeping in an odd position.

Falling or whiplash is another way to cause the problem. For instance, in a car accident, your neck may go backward and then forward, in a whip like motion, a movement likely to harm the area. Other impact or force-related trauma can cause similar injuries.

If muscle knots, tension, or stiffness is left untreated, it can lead to chronic neck pain that lasts for three or more months. It’s capable of spreading to the following areas: shoulders, chest, upper back, and/or arms causing weakness, tingling, and/or numbness to develop.

Thus, it’s important to address neck pain in its early stages before it exacerbates and limit our mobility even more. Apart from physical, additional symptoms of chronic pain include fatigue, depression, and anxiety.

Treatment

Physical therapy treatment for neck pain may include:

  • Applying ice, heat, and/or electrical stimulation
  • Muscle energy technique
  • Joint mobilization and soft tissue massage
  • Cervical traction (light stretching of the neck)
  • Postural corrections as well as ergonomics consultation
  • Strength and stretching exercises
  • Neural mobilization

Neck Stretches: It’s optimal to include stretching exercises in the treatment plan to increase range of motion and flexibility of the cervical joints. It can also relieve the stiffness that accompanies the pain.

Neck Strengthening: Strengthening exercises can improve posture, which in turn decreases recurrent flare-ups of pain.

Aerobic Conditioning: Aerobic exercises can benefit blood flow to the neck and upper back muscles and soft tissues, thus, loosening the muscles and increasing range of motion. Also, after 30 minutes of cardio, our body naturally produces endorphins, a “painkiller” that can help relieve symptoms.

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