In some cases, the cause of your neck pain may be obvious — if you’ve recently been in a car accident or suffered a sports injury, for example. Often, however, problems can develop through poor posture or from having to perform the same action repeatedly. In addition, if you often spend too much time at your desk or in the car, the resulting muscle inhibition can add to the problem.
Common complaints include not being able to turn your head fully, all-over neck soreness, stabbing pain localized to one area on the neck, and pain, numbness, or tingling that radiates as far down as the fingertips.
What are the consequences of not getting help?
People who seek treatment are often surprised to learn that other problems they’ve been experiencing might be related. So even if you think you can “live with” not being able to turn your head fully, lack of mobility at one joint will cause excess strain on the other joints nearby.
For example, you may find that the problems you’ve been having with your shoulder mobility are stemming from a lack of mobility in your upper thoracic and lower cervical vertebrae. Untreated neck pain can even lead to issues you might never expect, such as balance problems or trouble gripping objects.
How can physical therapy help?
Once we’ve pinpointed the main cause of your neck pain, we’ll develop a treatment plan tailored to you. At Body Gears, we use many techniques and forms of treatment, including vertebral joint mobilizations, soft tissue manual therapy, Functional Dry Needling, core neck muscle activation and strengthening exercises, nerve glides, and movement mechanics re-training for the neck and shoulders. These are active types of physical therapy treatment which means we can teach you home techniques that put you in control of your symptoms.
Our goal is to help you manage and eliminate pain, improve range of motion, increase muscle activation and strength, and restore efficient movement mechanics to get you back to normal function. We’ll also teach you how to achieve efficient postures needed for your daily tasks and how to ergonomically setup your workstation. Long-lasting relief from neck pain is on the way with the help of a physical therapist!
Request Free Consult or Contact Us Today at Chicago Lincoln Park, Oak Brook, Oak Park, & Winnetka, IL Centers to learn more about how we can help you get back to the things that matter most and enjoying life without pain.