Chronic Neck Pain – What Are The Common Causes?

Introduction

The neck is made up of structures^[1] such as the skin, neck muscles, arteries, thyroid glands, lymph nodes, veins and the trachea.

All these are structures that make up the whole of a human being’s neck. Scientifically, the spinal cord and the canal are surrounded by seven bony vertebrae which make up the spine in the neck. The vertebrae discs are also surrounded by the nerves of the neck which have their own specific purpose.

Since neck pains are common to people I know you may have experienced some form of neck pain due to different reasons. I can assure you that this is a condition that each and every adult has suffered at least once in a lifetime.

For those who have not experienced neck pains, it is good to follow good practices such as the correct sleeping posture in order to avoid chronic neck pains.

There are several risk factors that might place you in the danger of developing chronic neck pains. They include sports that involve much contact such as rugby, motor vehicle accidents and any other sport that looks risky and involves much body movement.

Basically, Neck strengthening exercises and neck bracing come in handy in reducing the risk of developing chronic neck pains.

What are the Symptoms associated with Neck Pain?

If you are experiencing problems with your neck but you are not sure that it is chronic neck pains, I will show you the common symptoms that are accompanied by neck pains.

When on the onset of experiencing neck pains, you may start experiencing pains especially when you try to move your neck.

This is a very strong indicator that you may experience further strong neck pains. On the other hand, other symptoms include pulsations, swishing sounds in the head, dizziness or lightheadedness, numbness, tingling, tenderness, sharp shooting pain, fullness, and difficulty swallowing^[2].

In addition, other symptoms associated with chronic neck pains include headaches, pain especially on the face as well as arm numbness. You may experience the above symptoms when the nerves of the nerves become pinched.

Finally, neck pains may sometimes may be accompanied by upper and lower back pains as well and inflammations of the spine.

What are the Causes of chronic neck pains

• Muscle Tension – Muscle tension is a common cause of neck pains and neck related disorders. Activities that cause muscle tension include poor sitting and sleeping posture.Another cause of muscle tension may include working at a desk for a long period of time without changing the position. You may also jerk your neck while exercising. Am sure some of you have experienced a twitching of neck muscles during exercise.
• Injury – Basically, the neck is one of the most sensitive parts of the body and this makes it very vulnerable to injuries. Activities that may cause injury are where the muscles and the neck ligaments move outside their normal position.

Activities that may cause such kind of injuries include accidents, falls and risky sports.Primarily, these risky activities may fracture important parts of the body such as neck bones, cervical vertebrae and the spinal cord as well.

There are other causes of severe chronic neck pains.

• Osteoporosis^[3] is a condition that weakens the bones and may be a major cause of fractures in the body. It therefore puts a person suffering from the condition in a very high risk of acquiring neck fractures which later lead to severe neck pains.
• Another common cause of chronic neck pains is rheumatoid arthritis. Basically, this condition causes pain and swelling of bones, joints and the neck. When attacked by this condition, you may experience severe neck pains especially when the body is actively at work.
• In addition, other common causes of neck pains may arise from infections such as lymph node infections, meningitis, neck tuberculosis, as well as infection of the spine bones. These conditions are often accompanied by neck stiffness and severe neck pains.

On the other hand, neck pain may come from conditions that directly affect the muscles in the body such as uncomfortable positioning of the neck during sleeping. In fact, almost 15% of neck pains (also known as cervical pain) are caused by inappropriate positioning during sleeping.

• Other conditions which are associated with chronic neck pains cause severe and unbearable chronic neck pains. Once attacked by such conditions, you may experience muscle pains especially in the neck and shoulder region.On the other hand as people continue to advance in age, cervical discs can start to degenerate and wear out.
• This is a condition of the neck known as osteoarthritis which creates a narrow space between the vertebrae. Basically, when you experience an injury or a trauma for that matter a disk protrudes from the neck and this may create pressure to the nerve roots and ultimately the spinal cord is affected. This is usually a very serious problem since many cases of this nature result to chronic neck pains.
• Finally, another major cause of chronic neck problems is arthritis. Basically, this condition weakens the bones and makes them vulnerable to fractures and you may end up developing neck fractures in the process.

Read Next : Arthritis In Neck – How Can You Prevent Neck Arthritis?

Conclusion

We can conclude that, chronic neck pains may be as a result of unpreventable and undetected conditions which come from inside the body.

This is due to the fact that, out of all the cases of chronic neck pains, almost 70% of patients complain of a gradual pain which grew severe over time. On the other hand, some of the cases of chronic neck pains are as a result of injuries, accidents and other conditions that are associated with neck pains.