Neck pain, much like back pain, can disrupt your life in a surprising number of ways.
Simple movements that we usually take for granted such as turning your head to talk to someone, or checking your blind spot whilst driving can become impossible for someone suffering from neck pain.
Neck pain can also make it extremely difficult to find a comfortable sleeping position leading to restless nights and daytime fatigue. This can create a frustrating cycle in which the fatigue causes the pain to increase, which makes it harder still to get to sleep.
Pain in the neck can also refer to other areas of the body – for example the head, leading to headaches, the shoulders, back and arms. Symptoms such as pins and needles, numbness, and weakness in the arms and hands can be as a result of neck pain.
Andy was a keen cyclist who was unable to ride: whilst out on his bike he started to experience severe shooting pain in his left hand when he looked over his left shoulder. This progressed to numbness in some of his fingers. As he was feeling some discomfort in his mid-back, he was sure that this was the cause of the symptoms in his hand. He saw one of our osteopaths, Holly, who assessed him and treated the actual cause of his pain: his neck. After two treatment sessions with Holly his symptoms had resolved and he was back on his bike.
Holly Jordan is an osteopath with a lot of experience treating the neck. She will start by assessing not just your symptoms but also take into account your general muscle and joint health as well as the impact of your lifestyle, work set up, breathing and stress levels. She works in partnership with her patients to create tools that they can use in their every day lives to relieve their discomfort. These may be simple exercises that can be done whilst sitting at a desk or breathing techniques that help alleviate stress.
Book an appointment with Holly here.