Being a neurologist specializing in the diagnosis and therapy of various kinds of pain, I’m helping an increasing number of patients suffering from chronic neck pain. And since there are a lot of possible causes and reasons for this condition, a proper diagnosis can at times be challenging. A lot of neck injuries come from car crashes, in which case you need to get a car accident lawyer to help you get compensation for your medical expenses. Even these kinds of injuries can differ greatly though.
Chronic neck pain (often known as cervical pain), can be helped in chronic pain recovery, but we need to be aware of a health conditions that lasts more than 3 months. The pain may come from any kind of ailments and diseases that affect just about any bone, tissue, or gland located in the neck section. These ailments often cause the muscles of the necks feeling tender, dizziness, sharp shooting pains, tingling, hard to swallow, numbness, and other conditions.
Causes of Chronic Neck Pain
Facet joints are among the most frequent causes of chronic neck pain. Facet joints are little stabilizing joints situated between and behind adjacent vertebrae. Since these synovial joints are deep in the backbone, you can’t feel them. You also can’t see them with no imaging studies. Your facet joints works just like your knee, or even your shoulder. They may get debilitating or arthritic like your knee or your own shoulder. Basically, the very same sorts of stuff that you can do to a knee or a shoulder you can do to the facet joint, particularly in whiplash accidents where the neck slides backwards. Facet joint pain has become the most frequent cause of chronic neck pain after a car accident.
Another reason for chronic neck pain is disc injury. The pain originating from the disc usually indicates a tear inside of the disc. The outer wall of this disk (known as the Annulus) could be ripped by a whiplash injury. The disc might get weaker and damaging when stressed during regular activities. The actual pain comes from the nerve sections in the annulus. 1/3 of chronic pain sufferers complain of disc pain. Furthermore, there may be equally disc pain and facet joints pain in some individuals.
The aforementioned conditions are undoubtedly the two most frequent causes of chronic neck pain. Other ailments, such as muscle strain of the neck, can cause mild pain, but generally, heal within a brief time period. In some people, the pain might be due to a pinched nerve from a herniated disc, but such instances are comparatively rare. Herniated discs usually result in arm pain, and not chronic neck pain.
Treatment of Chronic Neck Pain
Knowing the reason for pain is the key to appropriate treatment. In assessing the history of symptoms, the neurologist should note the location, intensity, length, and radiation of the pain. Any previous injury to the neck and past treatments must be noted. Aggravating and relieving motions or positions also have to be listed, both at rest and in movement. Tenderness is discovered during palpation of the neck. An assessment of the nervous system is done to check whether or not nerve involvement exists.
Undiagnosed neck pain on further testing can include of X-ray test, CT and MRI scans, Electromyography (EMG), nerve conduction velocity test (NCV), along with other. Regardless of your MRIs or X-ray findings, your pain can be relieved. Neck pain is seldom solved with surgery. Many of those contemplating neck surgery or those that have had neck surgery have found no relief. The Bridge employs the entire body system for relief with excellent results.