What is causing my neck pain?

Causes of neck pain

Tight muscles, stiff joints, pinched nerves, weak muscles, poor posture – these are just a few things that may spring to mind when we experience neck pain. It can be confusing, and you may find yourself asking “what is causing my neck pain?”   Research tells us that we can really make a difference in your neck pain by strengthening your neck muscles and improving posture by increasing our awareness of your neck position.  As Physiotherapists, we not only look at your neck to address your neck pain. We will address your thoracic spine (middle back) as this area is often overlooked. Your middle back can become stiff and immobile, which can affect your neck dramatically.  If you have a stiff middle back this will place additional strain on your neck on top of any stiff neck joints or weak or tight neck muscles. Weakness in your postural muscles does not allow your neck and therefore your head to sit properly on your spinal column.

Your upper trapezius muscles are often one of the culprits in experiencing neck pain.

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When you touch your upper trapezius muscles they may feel tight and can be quite tender.  The question is though are these muscles tight or are they taut?  You can see the outer third of your collarbone (acromium) is where these muscles insert. Now imagine rounded shoulders and a slumped thoracic spine. This will pull the trapezius muscle fibres downwards creating a lengthened and taut muscle that becomes hypersensitive and painful.

Now, from this slumped posture you will need to lift your head up and poke your chin out in order to see what’s in front of you.  When you lift our head up your cervical spinal joints (neck joints) get compressed and you will start to feel neck pain.

So how do you fix neck pain?

We do need to position your shoulders back and work on strengthening your thoracic spinal muscles, but you will need to straighten out your thoracic spine first. Stretching out your pectoral muscles (chest) in a doorway is a good place to start. You should feel the stretch, but it shouldn’t be excoriatingly painful and remember to breathe throughout the stretch. Hold each stretch for 30-40 seconds and repeat 3-5 times each day.

For further physiotherapy and postural advice or an individual assessment of your specific issues, book in to see one of our Physiotherapists and they will address all of the underlying factors contributing to your chronic neck pain.

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