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Head & Neck Pain

Overview

Head & Neck Pain

If you are a workaholic, whether at a job or at home, neck and head pain may seem like a “no big deal” to you. In reality, it is! No matter how common and widespread neck and head pain is, it can never be normal and shouldn’t be taken so. Body discomfort, in whatever form, MUST be treated on time before the condition worsens and starts interfering with your daily life and social activities.

Head & Neck Pain

Causes

Mainly, head and neck pain is the consequence of stress.
You must have experienced that when you’re tense or stressed out, your body muscles get stiff and rigid, leading to a throbbing headache and hurting neck. Illness may rarely be the cause of constant neck and head pain, although stress is the major cause.

Emotional Stress

Emotional or mental stress of any kind causes soreness in the head and neck. This may include stress resulting from financial loss, job worries, study, personal issues, anger or frustration etc.

Physical Stress

Physical stress occurs when you keep your body posture incorrect while standing, sleeping, sitting, or working. You can literally strain or sprain the ligaments or muscles in your neck from a sudden movement, improper movement, or through over use.

Environmental Stress

We breathe polluted air filled with pollen, tobacco, smoke, dust etc and consume unhealthy diet including alcohol, carbs and indigestive toxins. This kind of daily intake in the form of polluted air and unhealthy foods directly targets the nervous system and body muscles, causing a hurting head and neck.

Head & Neck Pain

Symptoms

Head and neck pain symptoms vary in intensity, depending on the type of ache. Here, the major symptoms of head and neck pain are listed that call for a serious action.

Throbbing Headache

Headaches that appear once in a while and vanish in a few hours may be related to normal stress. But if your headaches that are constant and extend over several days, you should seek medical help.

Stiffness

Stiffness of the neck and shoulder muscles Neck and shoulder muscle stiffness should not be overlooked as it may be indicating a more serious condition like meningitis. If you feel fever along with the rigid neck, it’s a danger sign.

Numbness

Numbness starting from the neck and radiating down the arms can happen in or around the neck and radiate down the arms. This can be caused by pinched nerves in the neck or may be indicating a more serious condition, such as heart attack.

Tingling

Tingling in the arm and hands Again, pinched neck nerves may be the reason if you feel like someone is nipping you with needles and pins in the hands, fingers and arms.

Treatments

Head and neck pain treatment basically depends upon the gravity of the situation. Acute pain may involve temporary medications and bed rest, while chronic pain may involve a more long term plan including pain relieving therapies and exercises. If you consider treating this condition from a physical therapist, the pain treatment should include the following:
The first step would be to know your entire medical history, when did the condition first appear, what makes it worse or better, what is your lifestyle etc.

Next, a physical but manual exam is conducted. Therapist will judge your head and neck soreness by making you stand in certain positions and through your different body movements.

If you really are suffering from discomfort, the head and neck pain treatment may include the use of hot and cold pads, massages, and various exercises.

Procedures

These are typical procedure performed by a pain specialist for head and neck pain depending on the cause.

  • Cervical Epidural Steroid Injections
  • Cervical Facet Joint Injections
  • Medial Branch Blocks for Cervical Facets
  • Radio Frequency Ablation of Medial Branch Nerves
  • Greater occipital Nerve Blocks
  • Pulsed Radio Frequency
  • Third Occipital Nerve Blocks
  • Radiofrequency of the Third Occipital Nerve.
  • Trigger point injections
  • Botox injections of trigger points
  • Spenopalatine, Gasserian, and Trigeminal ganglion blocks and neurolysis
  • Occipital Nerve Peripheral Stimulation- Trial and Implant of stimulator
  • Intraarticular Temporomandibular joint injections,
  • Botox injection of the Masseter muscle.